


In My Arms

by JoyKatieWrites



Series: A Bittersweet Second Chance [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2020-11-02 01:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 32,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20582564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyKatieWrites/pseuds/JoyKatieWrites
Summary: After finding her family and years of fighting villains, Emma is finally ready to settle down with her true love. She has the love of her parents, her son and her pirate, yet there's something missing. But not for long.





	1. The Perfect Morning

The first thing Snow had done as she awoke wrapped safely in her husband’s arms, was smile. She glanced up at Charming, without moving her head off his chest and watched him as he slept. Snow had always been a light sleeper, all through the first curse it being an affliction she didn’t know why she suffered, and then even more so after Neal was born. Charming was like any typical male, and would sleep through a freightliner running through his bedroom.

Not wanting to waste any of the day; especially the precious time before Neal woke up, Snow lifted her head, running her fingers lightly up his bare chest. She smiled as he wrinkled his nose, already in the stages of waking. Leaning up, she pressed her lips to his, giggling as his blue eyes met her hazel ones. He may sleep through ogres rampaging his castle, but one kiss from his true love would wake him from any slumber.

Not satisfied with just the one kiss, Charming grinned, pulling his wife tighter against him, rolling them so she was lying back, smirking at him. He mirrored her smirk, before capturing her lips in a kiss once more.

OUAT

Later, as Snow was making her oatmeal, Charming was sat facing Neal in his chair, fighting with him to keep his socks on while trying to feed both his son and himself. Snow watched her husband and young son interact and felt her heart swell with love for them both. She turned back to the stove, stirring the pot, thinking to her other child, probably awake in her own house, getting ready for work.

Despite her parents and Killian’s best efforts, Emma was determined to carry on working at the station right until she dropped. Killian and her father had collectively put their foot down however, and banned her from doing anything other than desk duty for a number of months. Of course Emma had been bitter about it, but as soon as her husband had reminded her it was the best thing for their baby she had stopped trying to escape on stake-outs and was getting on with paperwork without too much grumbling.

“Mama!” Her youngest squealed loudly, breaking Snow out of her daydream. She turned and laughed loudly at the sight of her husband tickling their son’s feet, and the delighted giggle coming from Neal. She turned off the stove and quickly made her way over to her son, swinging him up into the air, which only made him giggle harder.

OUAT

After breakfast was finished and David had washed the dishes, the couple and their young son moved about their apartment, getting ready for the day ahead. Snow was excited; she had planned a baby shower for her daughter, which was taking place that afternoon at Granny’s diner. Snow was going to finish preparing for the event, while, like usual, Charming was going to keep Emma company at work and take her over to the diner later. Charming was glad that he and Emma had had the sense to hire some new staff at the station, so that they were able to leave for the afternoon, and there were still trained staff to deal with the criminals.

As soon has Emma had announced her pregnancy, her parents had informed her, rather than asked her that she was no longer to go on stakeouts or patrols. Red and Leroy had been hired for that. One of the main reasons that Emma had reluctantly agreed to remain at work in the station on desk duty, is that Charming had compromised, and cut his time so that he was doing paperwork with Emma on the days she was working, and was performing his sheriff duties on her days off.

Standing by the door, pulling on his jacket, Charming turned at his wife’s call. She handed him his lunch in a brown paper bag and a second bag he knew was meant for Emma, before kissing his cheek. Charming’s eyes sparkled as he placed the bags on the table next to the door, grabbing his wife by her hips, pulling her into his arms. He was grateful that Neal was distracted with his building blocks; he recently had gotten into the habit of purposely interrupting any intimate time between the couple.

“Do not forget. 2pm. whichever criminal you’re chasing; stop and bring Emma to Granny’s.” David grinned and nodded his true love’s infectious excitement was rubbing off on him. He knew that Snow had been feeling bad she had never had the chance to do this for Emma when she was pregnant with Henry, and so was really going all out this time. She had even asked Regina to give Henry permission to get the afternoon off school so he could attend. He placed a searing kiss on her lips, striding over to where his son was playing for a goodbye cuddle, before picking up the lunch bags, making his way out of the door.

Snow waved him off from the door, turning back inside with a lazy grin on her face. Today was shaping to be the perfect day.


	2. Visiting 'The Bakery'

She began to hum as she finished the housework, tidying her already immaculate house, before helping Neal on with his shoes and jacket. They had a trip to make before the baby shower, to pick up the cake from the bakery and set up for the party. Snow had worked out with Granny that she would help with the breakfast/ early lunch rush and tidy while Granny distracted Neal and then Granny would close the diner until the dinner rush after the party.

The bakery was all the way over in the next town, Snow knew the only baker in Storybrooke was terribly indiscreet, and so they had the over an hour-long round road trip Monctonwood to sing nursery rhymes. Snow loved the one-on-one time she got to have with her son, but she truly could not wait until 2pm so she could spend time with her daughter before her grandchild was born. Neal was usually fussy when it came to car rides longer than 15 minutes, but it was like he could sense his mother’s excitement and stayed quiet, not only moving his head to the music, but using his still rather broken speech to somehow follow along to the words.

When Neal’s CD ended, Snow switched to the radio, fiddling a little until she could find one with signal. She found a channel that was playing one of her favourite songs and began to sing along. As they crossed the town line into the new town, she looked back at her son who had fallen asleep. She could only smile at how adorable her toddler was, almost exactly half her and half David, and couldn’t help but wonder about Emma’s child, and how much they would look like their parents or maybe even grandparents. She shook her head, unable to stop her grin at the picture in her head before pulling into the only available parking spot outside the bakery, aptly named ‘The Bakery’. Neal slowly woke as she lifted him out of his car seat, his tiny fists rubbing his eyes sluggishly. Seeing it was his mother that had disturbed him he yawned, a sleepy grin on his face as he leant his head on her shoulder, his arm wrapping around her neck to keep him steady. Before she had even stepped inside the bakery, he was asleep again.

The baker, who had introduced himself as such, was expecting Snow, and so had already boxed the cake ready for transport. He grinned as she entered, gesturing grandly to the cake, removing the lid from the box with a flourish. Snow peered closely at the two-tiered masterpiece, trying to find any hint of what colour lay beneath. It was a simple, elegant design finished with a silver ribbon and decorations, with an iced message on the top. Snow scowled up at the baker as she read the message ‘Congratulations Emma & Killian! It’s a…’ with each consecutive letter written in blue then pink. The baker smiled at her expression, shaking his head as she opened her mouth to speak.

“I am under strict instructions from your husband Mrs Nolan, you are not allowed to find out before the expectant mother and father…”

Snow knew he was right, and she was far too excited for the afternoon to be angry at Charming. If anything, it just made her happy, that her husband knew her so well that she would try to bribe the baker for the gender and that he would think to call ahead. After she had paid for the cake, shifting Neal to a more comfortable position to carry him, the baker got one of his staff to carry the cake out to her car. She giggled when she saw his name badge naming him as ‘The Assistant’. As the assistant strapped the cake into her passenger seat Snow strapped her son back into his seat. The numerous distractions and interruptions to his sleep was beginning to make the toddler a little grumpy, and Snow knew if she didn’t get him home, or in this case Granny’s soon, then she would have a stroppy tot on her hands. She was determined that nothing would ruin this day for her daughter. With a final cursory wave to the baker and his assistant, she turned in the road, ready to make her way home.


	3. Father-Daughter Time

Back in Storybrooke, Charming had picked Emma up from her house, her frame no longer able to fit behind the wheel of her bug, and handed her the Danish and hot chocolate he had picked up from Granny’s. Though grateful for the snack, Emma pierced her father with a frown. Usually their first stop in a morning was to go to Granny’s and eat together, especially now they were not tied down by time constraints. He shook his head at her with a smirk, already anticipating her question.

“There were a couple of break-ins last night, and Bashful made an arrest earlier this morning, so there is a little additional paperwork that needs filling out. The sooner we start, the sooner we can finish, and then you can go home to your husband. He grimaced at his own words but his face soon cleared when he saw her smile. He internally chucked as he drove to the station. His daughter was married and was eight months pregnant with her second child. Eventually he would have to get used to the fact that Killian, Henry and the new baby were Emma’s immediate family, with him, Snow and Neal coming in a close second.

Emma had already tucked into the pastry and so did not notice the conflicting emotions crossing her father’s face as he pulled into the station. He opened her door for her, placing both their drinks atop the car so he could take her hand and help her out of the car. He chuckled as her feet left the car first, with her belly following closely behind. She gripped tightly onto his hand as she lifted herself to standing. She winced at the twinge in her stomach and the ache in her back. She had found that it was difficult to sit in any position for longer than five minutes lately. She couldn’t be bitter; the new baby would be worth every pain and sleepless night. After Emma was upright, Charming handed her the drinks before picking up her back from the foot well, hooking it onto his shoulder. Going back around to the drivers’ side, he picked up their lunches from the back seat, grinning at Emma’s scowl. She knew what was in the bag, Snow had been packing her healthy lunches ever since she had found Emma at Granny’s, scoffing a lunch consisting of grilled cheese and onion rings, followed by a bear claw. Charming just shook his head with mirth, he knew the reasons behind Emma’s dislike for the food, even having lived in a forest, he had never seen so many different green leaves disguised as a sandwich.

OUAT

Soon they were inside the station and Emma was settled in her chair, comfy for the next ten minutes’ maximum. He took his coffee from her, placing her lunch next to the framed picture of herself, Killian and Henry, aboard the Jolly Roger, for Killian’s birthday the previous month. He caught her glance at the paper bag before her eyes fell on the picture, and her resulting smile was radiant. Emma still talked about that day, and Charming knew it was a whole new side of Emma that he and Snow had seen that day.

Turning, he placed a few files on her desk from his, the extra paperwork from the previous night and a few others that needed checking. As they both settled into work, a companionable silence filled the office, save for the sound of Emma fidgeting, and leaving the room for the bathroom, and it remained that way for a couple of hours. They would only interrupt the silence when one of them wanted something off the other’s desks or when Emma had a question over work she had missed from being kept on desk duty; that was the way they liked it. That way, they would be done sooner and therefore home sooner, if they didn’t waste time on mundane chatter. There were a couple of calls in that time, which Charming transferred to Leroy, but nothing that required him to leave his daughter alone at the station, or for anyone to enter and disturb them. 


	4. Men Wearing Dresses

Around 12, Red stopped in with a drunk and disorderly, she sat at her goddaughter’s desk while Charming locked him in the cell to ‘sleep it off’. As he was returning to his paperwork his phone rang, the ringtone Emma knew was reserved only for his wife, and she smiled at the sparkle in his eye as he looked at the picture of Snow that had popped up on the screen, before motioning to the door, indicating he would take the call outside. Emma nodded, somehow unable to stop her grin at the totally obvious love between her parents.

Emma was distracted as her father took the call outside. Red tried to keep her focused on the story of catching the drunk and disorderly, also arrested for theft and breaking and entering, who had been stuck trying to escape from Storybrooke’s only high-end fashion store, clutching a female’s dress. He had tried to close the window a little after he got in, and it had stuck as he was trying to escape, his gut stopping him from getting out, or even being able to wiggle back in. Emma laughed at that, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

Firstly, no matter how in love her parents were, and how mushy they always were on the phone, neither of them had ever once left the room when talking to the other, leading Emma to believe something was wrong, or at least that they were hiding something. Internally she figured she was just being paranoid, it had been surfacing a lot more since she had found out she was pregnant, especially so when she had found out another woman had been flirting with Killian at his workplace. However, it wasn’t just that that was bothering her. The ache that she had been feeling earlier that morning had gone only to return with a vengeance, even after taking an antacid and some acetaminophen. She knew better than to worry prematurely, she had suffered Braxton Hicks with Henry around the same stage of pregnancy, she just knew if she told her father he wold stop what he was doing and over-react, he might even try and stop her doing the already limited duties she was currently allowed to do. She was going out of her mind as it was, and being stopped from even doing paperwork for the brief period every day would cause her to go stir-crazy.

Eventually Ruby realised that Emma had not been paying attention to her, when she pointed out their drunk cell companion had rolled over in his sleep, revealing the neon pink lades underwear and got no reaction from the blonde.

“Emma… are you awake?” there was still no response as she waved her hand in front of her face, only responding when the brunette tapped her on the shoulder. “Emma…?”

“Sorry, what?” Emma’s blank look caused Red to frown. “I asked if you’re alright... you’ve been staring into space for about five minutes and I was a little concerned. You didn’t even check out the drunk guy wearing the thong over there.” Emma looked over with a confused expression, apologising to Red for spacing out. Before Red could probe further into what was bothering her goddaughter, Charming walked into the room, an almost shy smile on his face. The smile dropped and the sparkle vanished as he felt the tension in the room.

“Is everything ok in here…?” He glanced at his daughter first who merely shrugged, before looking to his wives best friend. Red shrugged herself, standing from the uncomfortable plastic chair she had been perched on, mouthing the word ‘hormones’ to him with a cheeky grin. She walked past Charming with an eyebrow raised, and checking Emma was not watching them, made an ok symbol with his fingers. Red beamed brightly, kissing Charming on the cheek as she left the station. Charming kissed the top of his daughter’s head as he made his way back to his desk.

One look at Emma’s face and he knew not to ask the question he wanted to. He knew if she wanted to tell him what was bothering her then she would. Instead, he tried a tactic to cheer her up, his goal for the day to make sure she was at Granny’s for the right time. “What do you say we work for another hour or so, throw the rabbit food in the trash and go get a late lunch at Granny’s? Grilled cheese is on me.” He quirked an eyebrow at her and she grinned, her troubles temporarily forgotten. Charming chuckled at how eager she was to rid herself of the healthy lunch and sink her teeth into some proper grease, and at how easy it had been to get her to unknowingly follow along with his side of the plan.

They carried on working in almost silence, while Charming though back to his conversation with Snow. She informed him she had collected the cake, jokingly chastised him for preventing her from finding out the gender and was currently working at Granny’s ready to begin tidying the diner, and decorating for the party. They had exchanged ‘I love you’s’ and ‘no you hang up’s’ before Granny had taken the phone and said goodbye, hanging up herself, teasingly annoyed at her helper. The silence in the office was only broken at Emma’s mutterings and quiet complaints under her breath. Instead of turning and confronting her, he closed the finished file in front of him and opened the next one. “Em…” He didn’t need to follow up with anything; Emma knew what he was asking by the tone of his voice.

“I’m fine.” Her voice was tight, her answer short, but Charming knew not to push.

“Ok princess, if you’re sure.”


	5. Surprise!

By one, Charming had finished all his files. He spun in his chair, an expense Emma had been happy to spend once she had reached her second trimester, to face Emma’s desk, noticing her pile of files hadn’t been depleted as much as he expected. His offer to help was met with refusal, until he got tired of sitting and listening to her sigh and grumble. “Hey Em, if you let me help you finish, we’ll be done by lunch and you can go home once we’ve eaten…” His reasoning was enough to cause a small smile and grateful nod, as she cheekily handed him just over half of her remaining pile.

Charming took the files and began to get to work. There was about 45 minutes until they needed to be at the diner, and it was only a ten-minute drive away from the station. However, 15 minutes later, Charming heard Emma begin to pack up her stuff, having miraculously finished her remaining files under the impression they could go for lunch earlier. Knowing it would be a bad idea for them to arrive at Granny’s too early and spoil the surprise, Charming began to take his time with the last couple of files, checking all the spelling and making sure all the arrest records were straight. Emma was tapping her fingers on the desk impatiently and complaining at his slow pace but it was more joking than angry, she was grateful that her father was being as accommodating with her moods as he was. 20 minutes later, when it was time to go, Charming stood, grabbing his bag from the back of his chair, turning to face his daughter, who surprisingly was nibbling on the carrot sticks that Snow had packed for her. He helped her stand, putting her bag on the same shoulder, as he walked out the door with her, locking up behind them.

OUAT

5 miles away, Snow and Red were putting the finishing touches to Granny’s. She was dispensing with any traditions of usual baby showers being female only, so Emma’s father, son, husband, uncles, etc. were able to attend. Snow really wanted everything to be perfect and so had invited everyone that her daughter loved to celebrate with them. She was surprised everyone had managed to keep it a secret, especially Killian who would do anything for his beloved wife, including stopping her from freaking out at the prospect of a surprise party. They were doing the gender reveal at the shower, with the only person aside from Emma’s obstetrician who knew the gender, being the baker who had made the cake.

The room was coloured very gender neutral, a lot of silver and white, with and pink or blue decorations used intermittently. The cake was stood on an elegant silver stand and Snow had resisted the chance to cut into the back of the cake where it wouldn’t be seen. She was beyond excited, Red had to keep poking her to calm her down. At quarter to two, they both, along with Granny and Neal stood back at the doorway, surveying the room. To Snow, it was perfect.

All the guests were waiting in the main room of the inn connected to the diner and were let in the back to mill around, ready for Emma and her father to enter. With a quick text that they were parking nearby, Snow called everyone to hush. She was stood near the door holding Neal, with Killian and Henry on the other side. Just when she thought her grin could not get any wider, she heard her daughters voice outside.

“Do you promise you won’t tell mom we came here for lunch...?” David laughed, at her as the door opened, and he gestured for Emma to enter before him. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the very different look of the Diner she had been frequenting for a number of years, and then everyone yelled…

“Surprise!”


	6. The Baby Shower

Emma was shocked and surprised, immediately tears sprung to her eyes, her hormones throwing everything out of whack. She didn’t see the look between her husband and her mother, but David did, and at Killian’s nod, he pushed her gently toward her mother. Neal was still in her arms, settled comfortably on her hip, yet when his mother wrapped her spare arm around Emma, Neal leaned over to her and wrapped his arms around his big sister’s neck. Everyone started quietly chattering among themselves, giving the royal family a quiet moment to talk.

“Mama…” She paused, looking from her mother to Neal and to Henry. “I can’t believe you’d do this for me… for us.” She blindly stretched her arm out to the side, squeezing tightly when Killian took her hand. Snow herself had tears in her eyes, she was happy that Emma was not mad at the whole surprise, and she was touched that it had touched Emma so.

“Of course we did baby, you’re our little girl!” She pulled Henry to her side so he was stood facing his mother, wrapping the arm that had released Emma around his shoulders. Charming moved from where he was stood at the door, kissed his wife softly and lifted their son out of her arms, carrying him over to the snack table. With a few more words between Emma and Snow, the brunette smiled and turned on her heel, giving Henry a push towards the food, giving the expectant parents a moment alone.

Emma stared up at her husband, his sparkling blue eyes piercing into hers. She couldn’t help placing a chaste kiss on his lips. “You knew about this didn’t you?” She raised her brow at him, and then poked him in the ribs good-naturedly. “And you kept it a secret from me!” He grinned his infectious grin and rubbed his ribs in mock pain.

“Aye love, I did.” He commented to her raised eyebrow, he had never been able to keep a secret from his wife before. She took a moment to look around the room in more detail, she waved at Leroy, Red and a few others who were drinking and chatting. Killian removed his arms from around her neck, taking hold of her hand, dragging her along carefully over to the counter to check out the cake. Seeing it, Emma’s eyes widened, looking from her husband to her mother across the room, who was watching her daughter and son in law with a slightly sad smile on her face. Emma beamed at her before looking back at the cake, leaning into her husband’s side.

It was completely unclear from just looking at it, what colour was held within the icing. Killian had wanted to know at the last couple of scans which gender their child was, his reasoning being so that he can prepare properly, but due to Emma’s wish to leave it a surprise, he had stopped asking. Now though, as Emma looked at the cake, knowing the secret was one knife slice away, she suddenly could not wait to know.

“EMMY!”

A loud squeal from her baby brother broke her out of her reverie. Everyone in the room had temporarily ceased conversations, amused at the little boy trying to get his sisters attention. He was waving his arms exaggeratedly; a sign Emma took as a gesture over to him. She kissed her husband again, before reluctantly pulling herself out of his arms, making her way over to her brother and parents. In her current state, she was unable to lift him from David and carry him, instead she settled for leaning into her father’s side, hugging her brother until he was satisfied. Knowing Snow’s belief that Emma was a daddy’s girl, as soon as Neal was distracted, she turned to her mother, pulling into a proper hug, as much as she could with the baby in the way.

“This is perfect mama, thank you.” She spoke quietly, the moment serious, and only to be shared between the two. She kissed Snow’s cheek before quietly announcing “I love you mama.” Snow returned that admission, causing Emma to pull back, slightly embarrassed by the mushy moment, and the overuse of the nickname, before her face transformed to almost a smile of awe, her hands cradling her stomach. She grabbed hold of her mother’s hand, placing it at the spot where she had felt the kick. “Baby knows when Mimi Snow is near… never stops trying to escape to meet you.” She giggled and then winced at an extra strong kick which she felt through Snow’s hand. Snow was silent, hey eyes wide. Never in a hundred years did she ever expect to get a moment like this with her daughter.

A loud voice rang out, causing Emma and Snow to jump, turning to the door where Leroy was stood with Red. Once he had everyone’s attention, he nodded at her and stepped to the side, allowing Ruby to speak.

“Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to my goddaughter’s baby shower!” She paused as people cheered, and Emma grinned at the wolf, as Killian’s hand slipped into hers from the side. While everyone was focused on the speech, outlining what activities were going to occur, where the gifts should be left, and the most anticipated part, when the cake would be cut, Emma pulled Killian out to the back, standing in the hallway of the diner. Stood by the door, Killian wrapped his arms around his true love, leaning his forehead against hers. They just stared at each other for a few minutes, taking the time to enjoy each other’s company.

A wince from Emma caused Killian to pull back from her, his hands automatically joining hers on her belly as he searched her face for a sign of pain. “You alright there love? Is something wrong?” Emma shook her head, shifting his hand slightly higher on her stomach so he could feel the latest kick. She looked up at him in earnest.

“Listen Killian, I’m tired and my back is aching like a _witch_. What do you say we cut the cake and go home…?” Killian’s concerned expression softened at how tired his wife sounded and nodded, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“Aye love, that’s fine, but you know it’s not good form to lie to one’s husband. If something is wrong, you should tell me.” He wrapped his left arm around her, stroking the back of his fingers down her cheek, raising his brow at her vulnerable expression. Emma nodded, catching his hand in hers, squeezing tightly.

“It’s nothing. Honestly. It’s normal to get a few aches around this time, it’s just taking it out of me.” Satisfied, temporarily, with her answer, he nodded, with a deep breath, turning so they could join back with the party.


	7. The Reveal

Emma had been settled into a booth, with a plate full of greasy onion rings, and some new grilled cheese bites, a new recipe of Granny’s, with numerous guests of the party stopping by to offer their congratulations and best wishes, and soon after Killian had made the rounds he joined her, keeping constant hold of one of her hands, his thumb stroking her knuckles. Henry stopped by, and Emma and Killian shared their idea with him. They were slightly concerned by how the teenager would react to a new baby but he seemed genuinely excited. He had joked that he was glad he would be spending alternative weeks at both his mother’s houses, so that he would only have to suffer through half the sleepless nights, but aside from that, his smile at their request was sincere.

By just after three, Emma was exhausted by all the excitement and attention and was struggling to keep her eyes open. Snow had noticed and had asked Killian to carry the cake over to her so she could get it cut, but Killian had refused to leave her side. David had carried the cake over to his daughter, with Snow sliding into the booth next to Killian, lifting Neal as he tried to clamber into her lap. David passed Emma a knife, who had shaken herself awake, who smiled, passing the knife to Henry as he slid in to sit next to his mother. David stood next to Snow, his arm around her shoulder, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Regina stood in the same position behind Henry and the other close friends and family stood around so they could watch the reveal.

Moving the cake so that it was visible to the expectant parents, and to everyone else, the teen placed the knife at the top of the cake, without making the cut. He looked up at his mom and then his other mom, and saw Emma was staring at Killian, who in turn was watching the cake with apt attention. When the knife cut through the icing, and a slice of cake was cut away, there were whoops and cheers, excited squeals from Snow and Red, a demand of ‘CAKE’ from Neal, and a brilliant smile covered the pirates face. The smile alone told Emma what she needed to know, and when she looked down at the delicate pink sponge, the pink candy falling from a hidden hole in the cake, Emma nodded. She knew secretly that Killian had wanted a girl, though he would have been ‘ecstatic with either, as long as it was healthy’, and she knew, partly from her own experience when Neal was born, that a baby of the opposite gender was probably easier on the older child. She looked around, seeing that everyone was waiting for her reaction. Henry was smiling, David looked conflicted, and Snow and Killian looked worried.

“I’m having a daughter…” Emma spoke mostly to herself, the smile that covered her face was overjoyed. There was an audible sigh of relief as all the guests began clapping, and Killian pushed the cake towards Snow, so he could lean over the table and kiss his wife. Before she could stop them, tears began rolling down the princess’s face and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, to kiss him in a way that was almost indecent in front of their closest friends and family.

When she had calmed slightly, she stood, and hugged her parents, son and god mother, before leaning, fatigued against her husband. She kissed her mother’s cheek again, and hugged her father, brother and son a final time before going outside, asking them to say their goodbyes. Snow could not stop smiling as she waved at Emma and Killian as they drove away from the diner, towards their home.


	8. The Perfect End to a Perfect Day

People started to disperse soon after, after slices of cake were passed around, Leroy made a toast to the couple and Snow and Charming thanked them all for coming. Henry sat in a booth, keeping hold of his now tired nephew as he smushed some cake between his hands, as Regina helped Charming, Snow, Red and Granny with the tidy. There was plenty of left-over food already paid for, which was left for when the diner reopened, and Red helped Snow box up the remaining top tier of the cake so she could take it to Emma that evening.

By six, Charming was carrying his sleeping son to the house, with one arm around his wife’s back as she unlocked the door. After they entered, he quickly placed him into his crib, pulling off his tiny shoes, placing his favourite toy next to him, before collapsing next to his wife on the sofa. Snow grabbed the remote off the coffee table, tucking her feet up under her on the sofa. Charming pressed a quick kiss to her lips as she leant against him, turning the TV on to whichever movie was showing. They ignored the end of the Harry Potter movie that was showing, for some reason they found that form of magic just unbelievable, switching to a relatively new animation that was on. Snow was uncomfortable, the emotions of the day just made her want to hold on to her husband and never let go. She stood, and settled into his lap until she was comfy, leaning against her husband, her cheek pressed against his chest. She sighed in content as a deep chuckle reverberated from his chest. 

“Wow, they’ll really make a movie out of anything. Seriously? A bunny who wants to be a cop?”

Snow looked up at him, poking a finger into his sternum, making him look down at her. “Charming… we’re getting a granddaughter!” She squealed in excitement, and David shook his head at her jubilance, returning her excited grin.

“I know honey, just breathe…” he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, his eyes shining with his devotion to her. The blonde wrapped his arms tightly around his pixie-haired wife, taking a breath, linking their fingers on her lap. After the last few weeks of planning the shower, the last number of months since Emma had conceived. The last few years since their little girl had entered back into their lives with their grandson, this was the first time in a long time they’d really been able to relax. “So did you have a good day today sweetheart?”

Her tired nod against his chest answered his question. “It was perfect.”

Without any further words, they sat and watched the movie, revelling in the feeling of being together with no worries. Every so often, Snow would lift her head and kiss David’s chin, or David would kiss the top of her head. Before the end of the movie, his wife was asleep, snoring quietly against his chest. Charming only got halfway through the next movie, a superhero movie about a man with a big hammer, the actor in which Snow had admitted she had a little crush on, before he was switching off the TV, carrying his wife to bed.

He placed her on the bed, going back to check on his son, making sure the front door was locked before he entered his bedroom again. Snow had awoken and changed, watching him from under the duvet. David smirked, getting himself undressed quickly to avoid the cold. Snow moved his side of the duvet back, tapping the mattress with a grin. Within seconds, he was lying down, only comfortable as he pulled his wife into his arms. With a final goodnight kiss, a tradition they had not missed since they had known each other, she lay across his chest, her ear right above his heart. The steady thump slowly lulled her to sleep, smiling at the sound of their heart.


	9. Revelling in the Revelation

Back at Emma’s apartment, the first thing Killian did was run his wife a bath. He’d helped her in from the car, ignoring her half-assed attempts to try and persuade him to take her to the office to pick up some paperwork, yet she had wholeheartedly agreed when Killian had informed her she would not be going back to work until she had seen a doctor regarding the Braxton Hicks. She had received a text from Snow on their way back, letting them know how the party had ended, and checking she was ok. Emma shot her a quick response and then turned her phone off, leaving it in the car as Killian helped her into the house.

While Killian left her alone in the bathroom, he said he was just going to tidy up downstairs, but Emma was concerned. Killian had expressed his anxieties previously about the possibility of having a girl. At the time Emma had joked with him, about how he was so similar to her father, worrying about their ‘little girls’, but now it was actually happening, and that they were having a child of the female variety, Emma was worried this was going to cause her husband to withdraw from her. The blonde waited until her partner joined her, she was sitting back in the bath, bubbles up to her chin, though the top of her bump was just breaking the water. She was gently tracing the marks that both her pregnancies with Henry and now her daughter had left, her brow furrowing. Yet she could not bring herself to hate them like she had after Henry. Having stretchmarks and a juvenile record before the age of 18 hadn’t exactly helped her with the finding happiness in Boston.

She shook her head at the dark path her thoughts seemed to be following, as her daughter delivered a swift kick to her ribs. She gasped as the air was sucked from her lungs; Killian walking in the exact moment a frown marred his beautiful wife’s face. He was by her side in a second, kneeling by the bath with his blue eyes full of concern, one hand placed on her belly where she was rubbing the sore spot.

“Emma love, are you ok? Is it the baby?” Emma’s frown morphed into a desolate smile, saddened by the worry her husband was undoubtedly feeling. He loved Henry, but this baby was a whole new person, reliant on them for everything. She mirrored his position as best she could, cupping his cheek with her palm, her thumb rubbing slightly at the few-day old growth on his chin.

“Aye my love, I’m fine;” she grinned, mimicking him, taking a deep breath at the ache that returned now she wasn’t relaxed in the water. “our daughter just decided she was no longer comfortable, and kicked me.” She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose as his worried expression morphed into one of adoration.

“Say that again love...” She giggled, removing her hand from under his on her belly, switching positions to where tiny punches seemed to be raining against her belly button.

“What? ‘Our daughter’?” He nodded, kneeling up further, mouthing the words as if he could hardly believe it. A second later he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers, his forehead resting against her as he spoke again.

“Bloody hell love, we’re having a girl.” His excitement for the fact made Emma want to wrap her arms around his neck and just hold on tight. So she did.

They spent the next ten minutes chatting and laughing, always having some hold on the other in some way. When Emma’s replies became slow and slightly nonsensical, Killian lifted her from the bath, chuckling as she tried to cover herself. The water had cooled, and the pirate frowned at the fact that he had not even noticed, as he wrapped a fluffy towel around her shoulders. He squeezed her arm lightly so she could wake up enough to help him get her out of the tub and she grabbed his arms for leverage, but when she lifted her leg, she yelped out in pain, her fingers digging tightly into his skin as she balanced herself.

Her face was contorted, and though she tried to mask it to look only mildly uncomfortable, she knew she wasn’t fooling her husband. She released one of his arms, briefly running her fingertips across his cheek. “It’s fine love, it’s just my back. Practice contractions remember?” He still wasn’t convinced, but Emma was still stood inside the tub, her arms beginning to cover in goose bumps.

Spinning her slightly so that she was facing the door, Killian leaned down and picked her up bridal style, lifting her out of the tub, ignoring her please for him to allow her to walk. It was a quick walk down the corridor and then he placed her on top of their bed, watching her for a second before he grabbed her favourite pyjamas from the hamper, throwing them so they landed on the bed next to her. “I’m going to make you a hot chocolate love, then I’ll be right up…” She nodded, but her eyelids were already drooping, Killian doubted she would be awake when he returned.


	10. In My Arms

He was right. Though he was only downstairs for ten minutes making her favourite drink exactly the way she liked it, and locking up the house, when he returned she was fast asleep. She had managed to drag her pyjama bottoms on and the towel was still covering her, it looked like she had just fallen asleep mid-action. Despite his earlier worry, he could not help but smile in wonder at his wife. He placed the drink on the dresser next to the door, before lifting his wife into sitting position so he could finish dressing her for her comfort. He noticed her little pout of discomfort at the movement, and her frown reflected his own. He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, feeling her clammy skin.

Reluctantly, he left her on the bed, opening the window to let in some cool night air, before moving the comforter from the foot of the bed, laying it over her. Five minutes later he was changed himself and had drank the hot chocolate he had made for his wife, her having turned him onto it instead of rum in the evenings, before he slid into bed next to his wife. It was an automatic movement now, after a year of marriage, that he would wrap an arm around her, his hand resting over hers that was cradling her stomach.

He found he could not fall asleep. The excitement and emotion from the day had tired Emma out, but Killian was more awake than ever, just thinking. He had a daughter. Or he was going to in a few weeks. It was almost as if in the instant that he’d seen the pink sponge inside the cake, he understood every reaction of David’s he had ever witnessed to his daughter dating a dirty pirate. He made a promise to himself and his wife at that moment that his daughter would not be dating anyone until she was in her thirties.

He couldn’t help the half smile as the foot pressed into his hand, as if his daughter had heard his silent thoughts and was objecting. He looked to his wife, the discomfort that seems to be constantly present in her features was still affecting her in her sleep. He decided to try something he would watch his wife doing whenever the baby was restless. Normally, she would sit in the rocking chair in the nursery and sing to her stomach, and the baby would calm instantly.

Killian wracked his brain, trying to remember the first line of the song she would sing but resigned himself to start from the line that had drawn Emma to the song in the first place.

_‘Storybooks are full of fairy tales,  
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies…’_

He paused, forgetting the next line, before placing a kiss to Emma’s belly, as he thought back to all the times he had stood in the doorway of the nursery, mesmerized as his wife sang to their child. He was jolted out of his thoughts as he felt his wife’s delicate fingers run through his hair, seeing her smile blearily at him when he glanced at her face. “I’m sorry baby, did I wake you?” She shook her head, continuing to run her fingers through his hair, an action that always bought her comfort.

“Waking to see my husband singing at our daughter is totally worth it… I can feel her calming already. Carry on, just let me watch you…” He shot her his signature grin that made Emma’s heart melt, before turning back to where their hands lay combined, protecting their baby.

_‘Castles, they might crumble_  
_Dreams might not come true,_  
_ But you are never all alone,_  
_ Cause I will always love you…’_

He paused with a satisfied smile as is wife joined in, taking a second to listen to the melodic sound of her voice.

_‘When the clouds will rage in,_  
_Storms will race in_  
_ But you will be safe in my arms’_

Killian moved back up a little so he was sat next to his wife, wrapping his arms around her before he pressed a kiss to the side of her head, joining in with the final lines.

_‘Rains will pour down_  
_Waves will crash around._  
_ But you will be_  
_ Safe, in my arms...’_

Not needing any further words, the couple just lay together, watching each other, piercing green into brilliant blue, until the fell asleep, safe in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is 'In My Arms' by Plumb and was my favourite chapter when I was writing this. It is of course what the story was named after.


	11. It's Time

It felt like Killian had just fallen asleep when he was awoken by a loud groan. Instantly awake and aware, he sat and looked over his wife, trying to find the source of her pain. She was sat as upright as she could be, clutching her stomach with a pained expression.

“Emma love, what’s happening?” Emma looked at him like she wanted to throttle him for asking such a stupid question, before her features softened at his troubled expression. She had to remember that this was all new to him and since he had been a pirate for the last numerous decades, he wasn’t exactly experienced with these matters.

“Killian. I need you to get up, grab the overnight bags and stick them in the car, then I’ll need you to come back up and get me because I’m pretty sure I’m in labour.” Before Killian could react, she curled up again, clutching her stomach. Taking a second to kiss the top of his wife’s head and rub a calming hand over her stomach. He did what she asked, returning after a few minutes, now wearing his signature leather jacket, carrying Emma’s baby blanket. He knew it bought her comfort, although she had had it stored away in a cupboard since they had been living together, he thought it may help her now.

As carefully as he could, he placed the blanket around her shoulders, lifting her from the bed the same way he had lifted her from the bath the previous night. She wrapped her arm around his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder, her features serene as she considered the idea that she would soon be meeting her daughter.

He managed to get her downstairs and strapped into the car before her next contraction hit. This time though as she was sat up straight and she had her blanket with her, it seemed to affect her less than before.

Pulling out of the driveway, Killian placed his right hand on Emma’s thigh, squeezing gently. She placed her hand in his, and chancing a glance at his wife, he smiled encouragingly. “Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to.” It was just the thing that Emma wanted to hear, as she stroked her fingers of her spare hand over the top of her stomach. She sat quietly holding onto his hand, trapped in her own thoughts. She didn’t register when Killian said her name, asking if she was ok. She did not hear him ask if she was in pain. She missed when he told her they were close to the hospital. But somehow, she did catch his admission that he had said quieter than the rest. Three little words that warmed her heart and made her smile. “I love you.”

OUAT

Within ten minutes, they were at the hospital and as he pulled into a spot near the entrance, Emma was just recovering from another contraction. It was only when he noticed the clock on the dashboard blinking did he realise it was three am. He left Emma sitting in the car as he ran to the entrance, calling for a nurse who grabbed a wheelchair on her way out. She was soon situated in a room, with gas and air available to her, and Killian by her side. The doctor had examined her and confirmed she was in labour but it was still early. Killian took the hand that was not rubbing repetitive circles on her belly, reaching around her to wrap the blankets properly around her shoulder. He hated that she was in pain, that he could do nothing to help her, but under all his concern, he was just thinking about meeting his daughter.

The blonde dropped her husband’s hand, picking up the Entonox as another contraction hit, and after a moment, looked over to him, her green eyes full of tears. “Can you call my parents? I love you but I need my momma.” He nodded, pressing a kiss to her knuckles that were relaxed by her side. “And call Regina… apologise, but ask her to tell Henry what is going on?” As much as he did not want to leave her side, the fact that she was in the process of having their child meant he would do anything for her. Hell, the fact that she had married him meant he would do anything for her. And for his daughter.

He couldn’t help but feel a little confused that she would rather have her mother with her than him, but he remembered back to when Charming had pulled him aside at dinner weeks ago, to have ‘the talk’ with him, where his father-in-law had described the complicated species that was women, pregnant women full of hormones at that. He had listened carefully at all the information about how the pregnancy was affecting his wife, how the difference in her family situation during this pregnancy, and of course her excitement of a new baby was causing her to feel guilty about Henry, information that he should have known as her husband, but that Snow thought it would be better if Charming pointed it out to her. So in a way, he understood. He gently ran his thumb along her knuckles; knowing as long as she knew he was there for her he was happy, and stepped outside.


	12. 'Off Gallivanting'

As soon as the door swung shut, he leant against it, taking a deep calming breath. A quick swipe on his phone unlocked his screen and his eyes were drawn to his background picture. It was one of Killian’s favourite pictures, taken on his boat on his birthday; his best friends son was fooling around making Emma laugh hysterically, and Snow had snapped the moment, capturing the look of devotion from Killian as he gazed at his beautiful pregnant wife.

He stared at the picture for a second, thinking back to that day, before remembering his purpose for coming outside. He had been horrified when Emma had suggested he purchased a cellular telephone, but he had soon changed his mind when his then fiancée had taught him how to text… and FaceTime. He scrolled through his contacts was about to hit the picture of Emma and Neal, marked ‘Charming’s’ when his screen went black. Only then did the former pirate realise he had not charged his phone since the previous morning and it was now out of battery.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, a whole range of doubts suddenly clouding his mind. How would he look after a baby if he could not even keep his phone charged? He looked through the window if his wife’s room, seeing her frowning as she watched him through the glass. He noticed she did not appear to be in pain, for which the former pirate was glad, but the smile he flashed her was apprehensive. Without another glance, the soon-to-be dad turned on his heel, returning to where he had recently parked their car, remembering that was where Emma had left her phone the previous night. He could just have easily found a payphone and asked Emma for her parent’s number, of course he didn’t remember it, the only numbers he had memorised being Emma’s and Henry’s, but he didn’t want her to be angry or disappointed in him while she was dealing with so much and didn’t need a useless husband in her life.

He leaned into the car, spotting Emma’s phone in the foot-well where she had left it the previous night, breathing a sigh of relief as he picked it up. The relief quickly turned to annoyance when he pressed the centre button to unlock the phone and nothing happened. He stood, defeated for another second, before he had the genius idea of trying the ‘on’ button. His childish relief when the phone came to life lifted his mood a little, especially as he saw the background on her phone; a miniature collage of pictures of his wife’s family. The centre of the collage was a copy of their latest sonogram, and the thumbs up of their baby, who he now knew to be their daughter, made him smile, as he sprung to life, locking the car as he made his way back to Emma and their baby.

Looking in her window again, he saw her clutching on to her blanket tightly, her teeth clenched. A wave of guilt washed through Killian for being away from his labouring wife for so long, He quickly dialled Charming’s number, muttering impatiently at the four rings it took for someone to pick up. David answered and in the background Killian could hear his brother-in-law crying, probably awoken from the phone ringing at such a stupid hour.

“Emma, are you ok? Why are you calling so early?” Without giving him a chance to ask any more questions, he cut in.

“David, it’s Killian. We’re at the hospital, it’s time… can you and Snow get here as soon as you can? Emma’s asking for you.” David could only respond with a stuttered yes before he interrupted again. “And can you call Regina on your way so she can let Henry know?” Another stuttered sure and Killian hung up, shoving the phone deep into his pocket as he made his way back to his wife.

She seemed to be having a break from her contractions, and so his beautiful wife flashed him a tired smile as he entered, ignoring her want to question his erratic behaviour earlier. He took her hand once more, frowning as she shifted in discomfort, unable to find a position where her back didn’t ache. “Doctor Whale visited while you were off… gallivanting” She tried to joke, but the uneasy look in his eye made the smile drop from her face. “He gave me some magnesium to slow the contractions, since our little princess is still a few weeks early.” The former pirate’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t even realised his little girl could possibly be premature; he was so concerned with his wife’s distress, that he had not stopped for a second to think of the ramifications of early labour. Emma squeezed the fingers that were gripping her hand, but truthfully, she felt as worried as he looked. “He also prescribed steroids for her lungs, they said even a couple of days on them would make all the difference.”

“Emma, I’m so sorry… If I’d have known, I never would have agreed to that shower.” His brow furrowed as he thought of all the unintentional stress she had suffered the past number of months and cringed. Emma was about to reply, when she groaned again, bending at the middle. She bit her lip trying to show her concerned husband that it was not as bad as it looked, the pressure making her lip bleed. Killian moved quickly to the en-suite attached to the room, grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser, before moving back to his wife. He pressed the damp towel gently to her face. Without another word, he pressed his lips to her forehead, pushing an errant strand of hair away from her eyes.

When the pain passed, Killian turned, on his way to sit by the window again, before he felt gentle fingers grip his wrist. “Stay here Killian. Do not worry; me and our girl are going to be fine… Why don’t we try and get some sleep, before even that becomes an impossibility?” She shot a cautious smile at him, concerned that at any second he was going to find all of this too difficult to deal with and would be gone, leaving Emma to deal with everything alone. She shifted onto her left side so her back was to the door, watching as her husband clambered carefully onto the other side of the bed. When he was settled, she stroked her fingers down his face as he lay his arm over her waist. Their faces were lying so close together their noses were almost touching. They watched each other, silently until the pregnant blonde assessed he was not going to run, and gave into her exhaustion, falling asleep, only when her breathing slowed and she was really asleep did Killian allow himself to close his eyes.


	13. Early Morning Wake-Up Calls

The first thing Charming did as the call ended was to wake his wife, with a rushed brief kiss. For some reason, the phone and the crying baby had not roused her from her slumber, which David thought strange, seeing as she had been a light sleeper ever since Neal had been born. “Snow, its time. Emma is in the hospital, Killian just called, Emma’s in labour…” His speech was almost disjointed, as he had moved quickly to his son’s crib to quieten him.

Snow sat up, alarmed as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “But it’s too early… she’s not due for another month David…” she stood slowly as she stretched, before she took Neal out of his father’s arms, noticing David’s frown as he released the tot. The call from Killian and the clear anxiety registered on his wife’s face was troubling the man.

“Snow, can you call Regina? Killian rushed off the phone, and I didn’t get a chance to…” Snow just nodded, cradling the toddler close as he quietened in his mother’s arms. “We’ll call ‘Gina, won’t we bubba? Yes.” Neal giggled and clapped his hands together. Inexplicably, Neal absolutely loved ‘Auntie Gina’ and vice versa. The family tree must have been complicated enough to work out, but even the former ‘Evil Queen’ couldn’t say no to her would-be grandson.

As David went to make coffee, and pour out some juice for the boy, Snow dialled her former step-mother’s/ other mother of her grandson’s number. It took three rings before there was a snappy reply from the grumpy mayor into the phone. “Mrs Nolan, you better have a damn good reason for waking me up at this ungodly hour!” Snow tried to stop a snicker from escaping as she put the phone on speaker, allowing her son to speak. As soon as he heard the voice of his ‘favourite Gina’ he giggled again.

“Gina, Gina, Gina!”

Snow could almost hear Regina grin at the adorable little boy, before she growled quietly. “That’s cute Snow, get your son to try and make me forget you rang me at almost 4am for no good reason” Snow frowned, almost feeling guilty, before remembering it was her daughters request, and it was more important than the mayor being in a bad mood.

“I’m sorry Regina,” She paused as she heard the older woman huff on the line, but Snow was not going to deal with pleasantries if the other was going to be rude. “I’m sorry to call you so early. Or late. Or whatever. But Killian just informed me that Emma is in labour, and she wanted Henry to know.” She heard Regina take a breath, and just caught the barely audible ‘oh dear’, and knew that Regina had worked out the reason for Snow’s worry. “So we’ll be heading in soon, she told David she wanted…” Snow paused again, her tiredness and the situation beginning to set off a migraine. “Never mind. But if you would be willing and able to bring Henry down whenever you can then that would be appreciated…”

Regina nodded before she remembered her son’s grandmother could not see her. “Of course Snow. Please pass on my congratulations and best wishes.” The pause seemed to go on forever as David returned, holding two steaming cups of coffee, and a sippy cup pushed precariously into his pocket. “Thanks Gina, see you later.!” She pressed the button to end the call with a sigh, only realising then that she had called the uptight mayor the nickname that Emma introduced, that Regina only allowed Neal to use. With a quick shake of her head, the brunette took the second mug from her husband, sighing again mostly out of tiredness. She would have rather had tea, but already running on a lack of sleep on the run up to what would no doubt be a very long day, she drank the coffee without complaint. Their son was wide-awake and thought it would be a good idea to fling his cup around, before crawling to it on his knees and drinking from it again.

They did not rush but they did not take their time either as they packed a bag to keep their youngest occupied as they figured they would be at the hospital for the better part of the day. They left, and reached the hospital at 4am, as the sky was beginning to lighten, the darkest part of the night over.

Although they knew visiting hours only began at 9am, they were sometimes considered ‘royalty’ by older members of Storybrooke from the enchanted forest, and at that time, they decided to use that to their advantage. David informed Snow that Whale would have no qualms with the, the immediate family, being there for the birth of the new ‘princess’.

Neal was asleep as they pulled into the parking space, barely waking as David lifted him from his seat, still managing to wrap his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist, gripping to his father like a monkey. The prince was not saying much, Snow knew he was thinking about the fact he would soon have a granddaughter and he could not wait. It was a chance to be involved in the raising of a little girl, one they had not had with their daughter. Snow was quiet also as she picked up the bags from the back of the car. She could not help but be worried about her daughter, but she was happy she could be there for her, that she had requested her parents be present for the arrival of their granddaughter.

It was during a late night call back when Emma had informed her parents of her pregnancy, Emma was on the night shift and the station was quiet, and she had called her mother voicing her numerous concerns. They had talked long into the night about her worries, about how Henry would react. The fact that Emma was not going to be alone through this process was causing its own problems. Snow had listened as her daughter had rambled, ‘how am I going to raise a baby? What if it hates me?’ The list had grown more and more ridiculous the more tired Emma became, but Snow had just listened, agreeing and disagreeing at relevant points, just letting the hormonal blonde rant. She had stayed on the phone until Emma was calm, explaining that she would not be alone through any part of it, that she would be with her through it all like she should have been with Henry. There were many tears and apologising; it had been a very emotional night for them both.

The pixie-haired brown-haired person did not notice that her husband had stopped walking, until her face-planted into the back of him, stumbling backwards a few steps. David turned with a chuckle, checking on his wife. He had noticed she was in her own world; she had been following him instinctually more than being actually aware of where she was going. When he moved away from the door they were stopped outside, Snow looked in, seeing it was Emma’s room. Through the window, she could see her daughter and son in law both asleep, their arms around each other. The sight warmed her heart. She looked back at her own husband who was still cradling their youngest, and leaned into his side, revelling in the warmth and happiness. As much as they didn’t want to intrude and interrupt the sleeping couple, it was still the early hours of the morning and Neal would be restless if they couldn’t get him settled, and so Snow made the decision to go into the room and wait, laying the toddler across the large armchair, both parents sitting on the hospital standard uncomfortable plastic chairs. They sat, her head on his shoulder, fingers linked as they both fell into an uncomfortable sleep.


	14. Mother-Daughter Time

Like her mother, Emma had developed into being a light sleeper. Before Henry, and then after her body had recovered from childbirth she slept like her father, dead to the world, yet as soon as she had discovered her pregnancy she had switched, and would wake at any little noise or disturbance, partly due to the effect on her bladder, but partly due to her brain prematurely preparing herself to be a mother to an infant. She had not really felt it with Henry, she guessed subconsciously she knew she would not be raising her son and so she did not need to change her sleeping patterns. However, this was different. Now, as her daughter moved inside her, her eyes blinked open, glancing firstly at her husband who was thankfully sleeping like a drunk pirate, before sensing movement at the other side of the room.

She lifted her head, wincing at the pain in her neck, before she locked eyes with her mother. Snow looked tired and for a second a wave of guilt washed over the blonde-haired person. She had practically begged Killian to get Snow to come in, and now if the magnesium was working it would all be pointless, if Snow was going to stay with her all day then she’d be too tired to work the next day, and Emma knew how much her mother had loved going back to work, to the kids and the pleasure she got from teaching. Emma looked back to her mother who was smiling softly, shaking her head as if she could tell what her daughter was thinking.

The princess struggled to sit properly, her stomach preventing her from finding a comfortable position to sit in, moving away from Killian’s frame so she did not disturb him. Without a word, Snow stood from her chair, stretching out the kinks she had gained from sitting in a painful position on that chair for two hours, and made her way over to her daughter, moving around to the side of the bed she was sat on, enveloping her into a tight hug.

“Mom I…” Emma was whispering. She knew how little her husband had slept, and her parents seemed to be fairing no better. “I’m sorry.” Snow tried to shush her, but Emma shook her head, keeping tight hold of her mother. “I just… I needed you here. I love Killian but you are my momma. Girls need their mom’s when they’re…” She paused, not needing to continue as Snow pressed a kiss to the top of her daughters head, and they remained silent for a few moments before Emma looked up at her former best friend. “I know that what happened when I was born was… beyond your control. I know you did it to give me my best chance…” She pulled away from the former queen, pulling her legs closer towards her. “I need you to promise me. If anything happens, you’ll look after my girl, you’ll be there, because if Killian and I can’t be there, you and dad are her best chance mom…” Snow could not help but frown at the weird direction the conversation had gone in.

“What are you talking about sweetheart? No matter what; your father and I will be involved with our granddaughter.” She smiled proudly. “I will always be there for her sweetheart, and Henry. You don’t have to worry about a thing.” They looked to the bedside cabinet as her phone started to ring.

_‘Storybooks are full of fairy tales’_

Emma twisted with a quiet groan and grabbed the phone, sliding the screen to ignore without even checking who was calling. She turned back to face her mom, leaning against her side, closing her eyes with a contented sigh. When the ringer started again, the frustrated woman huffed, letting the song play for a few bars before switching the phone to silent, before wrapping her arms around her mother like a child. Exhaustion was frustrating the pregnant woman, preventing her from keeping her eyes open. Snow had been the same at this stage of pregnancy with Neal, and so took to stroking her fingers through Emma’s curls, trying to calm her back to sleep. It might have taken 30 years, but Snow had eventually been able to calm her daughter to sleep. With great difficulty, she managed to transfer Emma’s iron grip from her waist to her husband’s, and leaning forward she pressed a kiss to the younger woman’s forehead. It took a while for Snow to be able to settle back down once she moved back to the uncomfortable plastic chair, but eventually she fell into a restless sleep.


	15. Pistanthrophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note - any medical stuff from here on in is possibly incorrect. Based on some very quick research at the time of writing.

It seemed she had only been asleep for a matter of moments before a yell of pain had her on her feet, instantly wide-awake and aware. Charming had woken at the same time as his wife as well as the rest of the room and his first instinct was to scan the room for danger. Snow had recognised the shout had come from her daughter, and she noticed the noise had woken Killian so her reaction was to scoop up the wailing toddler who had been awoken with the rest of them.

Seeing no danger to his family, Charming stepped up to the bed in two quick strides, as Killian was leaning over, his hands covering his wife’s as she clutched at her stomach clenching her teeth, while his features reflected the worry that the whole family were undoubtedly feeling. Emma had tears rolling down her cheeks as Charming reached for the nurses’ button, pressing it numerous times in his worry. As it had just turned 8am, the shift had changed and the day nurses had just started their shifts. The nurse that came in was smiling until she saw the patient in tears. She moved to the blonde-haired person’s side quickly, checking the monitor that had been placed upon her, finding her orbs at a higher level than she would have liked them to be. She glowered at Killian until he moved off the bed but he remained by his wives side, no amount of glaring from the staff would move him. David was hovering at the foot of her bed, Snow looking on in concern.

Emma looked up at the nurse as she unclenched her teeth, trying to stem the tears that were making tracks down her cheeks. “Something happened, I heard a crack. I think a rib broke…” The nurse frowned at the pregnant woman. “How are the contractions Mrs Jones?” She decidedly ignored the comment for now, assuming a contraction had been a little more painful than usual.

Emma winced as she moved to sit up. “Slower. I don’t think I’ve had one since last night.” The nurse, who still hadn’t introduced herself by name, nodded as she made some notes in the chart at the end of the bed.

“Ok then, you lie back and try to relax, I’ll get Doctor Whale to come in and check in a moment.” She shared a tight smile with the room before leaving. The family were anything but relaxed as Snow made her way over to the head of the bed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. The younger blonde looked up at the apprehensive faces of her husband and parents. Even her brother was not smiling at her as he usually was; as if the toddler could tell, there was something wrong with his big sister. They were waiting expectantly for her to explain herself.

“When I was round 8, I’d just been kicked out of a foster home. Their little princess told them I stole her blanket, the one with my name on it… Anyway, I was back in a group home. Meadow bank. There was a little boy from there; he must have been seven, who was adopted out of the foster home he had been in since he was five. So this lady who had fostered him came back to the group home to find someone else to foster.” Emma paused, glancing at her mother with a sad smile. “Out of all the kids there she picked me! She was so nice, like an angel. She even looked like one with long blonde hair.” She frowned as Snow averted her gaze, talking about her daughters past was never easy for her. She turned to face Killian, knowing he would be less offended at her next sentence than the royal couple would.

“The first day after she fostered me, we went shopping, and someone stopped us and told her that she and I made a beautiful little family. I think that was probably one of the happiest moments of my childhood.” She heard Snow sniff, and reached out her hand as if apologising. Emma glanced up at her father who nodded for her to continue as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “Anyway, Angelica was her name. It was great for a couple of weeks, she helped me with homework, she’d braid my hair, we’d read together at bedtime.” Her deep intake of breath alerted the family that her story was about to get worse. “I guess Angelica forgot to tell me she had a new boyfriend who’d been on holiday for a few weeks. He… wasn’t so happy that I was around.” Emma looked up, hesitating, looking anywhere but at the imploring faces of her family. She blindly grasped for her husband’s hand, hearing Snow sigh loudly, her hand resting on her daughter’s ankle.

“Oh Emma…”

The expectant mother bit her lip, still staring at the suddenly fascinating pattern of the hospital blanket. “Damien, he didn’t live with us. In addition, usually he would only visit when he was drunk, usually when I was in bed. One night, I had a nightmare. I did not realise that Damien was coming over, so I had gone to Angelica. He didn’t like that I was taking time away from his girlfriend so he pushed me off the bed.” She ignored the shocked gasps of her parents, knowing the next part of the story was so much worse. “I hurt my arm, but it was more the shock than anything, but it still made me cry.” She stopped again to clear her throat, the memories of that time two decades ago still fresh in her mind. “I was crying too loudly for him and though I tried to muffle it in the pillow, he dragged me out of my bed and told me to go and cry downstairs…”

Before anyone could comment, Whale entered, clearing his throat politely. The group bar Emma turned to look at the doctor, and when Emma eventually got the courage to look up at Whale, it was only he and Killian still in the room with her. With no mention of the story Emma had just been telling, Killian took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. He stood at her shoulder, letting Whale pick up the chart from the bottom of the bed.

“Ok Mrs. Jones… the nurse informs me you believe you’ve broken a rib?” His raised eyebrow was questioning and the blonde-haired person hesitated, concerned that her tiredness was making her overreact. She confirmed his question however, with a nod, releasing Killian’s hand as she gestured to her lower ribcage, rolling up the bottom of her tank so she could point out to the doctor exactly where it hurt.

Just below her ribs on the right hand, side was a small tattoo of angel wings. She had the second and only other tattoo, other than her wrist tattoo, and the only one with a meaning behind it. Killian had seen the tattoo numerous times, and had questioned her once, but never pressed it once she told him she did not like to talk, or even think about it. She noticed him glance at it, registering the recognition that flickered in his eyes. His gaze quickly turned to one of uneasiness as just above the tattoo, a red, bruise-like mark was already showing. She gulped at the sight, reliving the moment she had seen it as a child. She glanced up at Whale again, who after a quick prod of the area, which elicited a hiss from Emma, and he nodded his confirmation at her diagnosis.

“Well we’ll need to get an x-ray to confirm, but it looks as if you may be right Emma… There is a chance that your baby has broken your rib. It is rare, but pregnancy does effect the levels of calcium in the female body, which can cause the bones to weaken, especially if they weren’t all that strong to begin with.” He stopped to make some notes on the chart, checking the monitors to note her blood pressure before he turned back to his patient. “Must have been one hell of a kick, could have a footballer on your hands.” He smiled lightly, trying to ease the tension, but the couple merely gazed at him passively. “Right… well, I’ll get the nurse to book you an x-ray, we need to see the extent of the damage, and determine if it will have any effect on your labour, but if it’s not a bad break then Tylenol should be able to keep the pain at bay.” The former orphan was not all that bothered with the broken bone, it was not her first by any means, but it was the memories the whole situation evoked that was affecting her.

Rearranging her face, Emma looked up at Killian with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “See. Everything is fine. Our little girl is going to be an athlete.” Killian’s answering smile was one of love, hiding the unease that lay beneath the façade.


	16. The Future Starts Today

By 10am, Emma had gone to x-ray after making Whale swear to Killian that there was minute to no risk to their daughter, and making him perform an ultrasound to put Killian's mind at ease that their baby was fine. The Charming's had gone to breakfast and returned, handing the pirate a hospital breakfast tray and watery hot chocolate, which he promptly discarded. He was pacing when his wife returned, as tired as she felt, and no doubt looked, she could not help but beam at him. As the nurse got her bed sorted and reattached all the monitors, Killian settled in the comfortable chair that had been moved from the corner of the room to by her side.   
  
"I shouldn't have to tell you this Emma, but you need to rest. Relax. We're still going to continue you on the medication to try and delay your labour, but if this is a bad break, or it happens again, we're going to have to look at other options... your ribs will make it difficult to move, so we're going to keep you here until after delivery..." The nurse hadn't expected the look of wide-eyed fear she got from her patient, who had stopped watching her husband to shake her head at the statement.   
  
"No its ok. I think I will go home. Rest there. Killian will be able to bring me back when this little one is fully cooked..." She rubbed a hand over her bump lovingly despite her protests.   
  
"Now hold on a second Emma," Emma turned her glare to her mother at her interruption, before she snapped at her, her hand reaching for Kilian’s.   
  
"NO! I will not stay here!"  
  
The nurse frowned at the sudden display of aggression, checking the monitors for her patient's blood pressure, before gesturing for Killian to follow her outside. With a sharp glare from Snow, Charming picked up Neal who was playing happily with his toy cars, and walked outside with the two. Snow could just hear Neal grumbling about being disturbed from playing, and David placating him with the promise of a new toy from the gift shop.   
  
Snow knew her kids. She knew her son was soon going to get bored with spending so much time at the hospital, and so would not berate her husband for bribing him with expensive toys. She also knew her daughter hated hospitals from previous trips they had had to make together, so she decided not to scold her as she moved to sit in the chair Killian had vacated.   
  
"Emma, honey, we just want you to be safe and healthy and this is the best place for that..." Emma continued to shake her head vehemently. Snow rested her hand next to where Emma's was lying by her side. Slowly, the blonde-haired person looked up at her mother, tears ready to spill down her face. Her hand twitched as if she wanted to reach for her mother, but instead she linked her own fingers and began to wring her hands.   
  
"Damien. He locked Angelica's bedroom door. He had installed a deadbolt and so it was really loud when he slammed it, even from the bottom of the stairs... he didn't let her out of the room until he'd... the next morning," she didn't need to finish her sentence but she knew Snow understood from the sudden clenching of her fist. "I'd been downstairs all night, my ankle hurt so I couldn't climb the stairs and my chest hurt when I breathed too hard and my arm, I know now that it was dislocated, but when I was eight, I was so scared because it just... hung there and I couldn't get it to move." She pulled at her fingers tighter as she heard a sob from the woman next to her, unable to look up and comfort her. "Anyway, Angelica told Damien she was going to take me to school but instead she took me to the hospital. I tried to tell them I tripped over one of my toys, I didn't want her to get in trouble in case she put me back in Meadow bank; but she told them what happened." Her breath caught in her throat and she wiped her eyes angrily. "The hospital called the police. We thought we were safe."

"Stop." Emma frowned, the request had been so quiet she almost did not hear it, and when she looked over at her mother, she was shocked to see her face contorted as if she was in pain. Emma's heart broke for her mother; whose heart was breaking for her daughter. "I'm so so sorry Emma... that you had to go through all of this. If we had known what your life would be like we would have found some other way to protect you from the evil queen. You have to believe us though; we honestly thought we were giving you your best chance..."  
  
Emma surprised her mother by leaning over and wrapping her arms around her as best she could. "Mama I know. My childhood may have been... problematic," she smiled at the scoff that emanated from the former queen before continuing. "But if you hadn't... I never would have had Henry. No matter what I went through, he will always be my greatest achievement." She released her mother, leaning back as the pain in her chest became uncomfortable. "Now will you let me finish telling you what happened without any hysterics?"  
  
She received a glare for her sass but Snow nodded, this time giving into her need to hold her daughters hand.   
  
"Angelica, she stayed with me as long as she could but she needed to go to work. She promised she would be back after work, and that I was safe from him now. That we were safe."  
  
"I was good all day. They put my shoulder back in, taped my broken ribs, and strapped up my ankle. I ate my lunch, did not cry, and waited patiently for her to return. When it was 6pm and she still was not, there I got worried. I pressed the nurse’s button, I was going to ask one of them to phone her, but when she walked in, she had a police officer with her." Snow waited anxiously, wanting to comfort the broken woman, but she held back until the monitors began to beep, showing one that were too high. Snow could only comfort her daughter a little, rubbing circles on her back, keeping one eye on the foetal monitor until her blood pressure was back within normal limits. She wanted to tell Emma to stop then story with the way it was upsetting her, but some masochistic part of her needed to hear it. "Damien had received a call from the school, asking why I was absent, and so he knew Angelica hadn't taken me there. He went to her work place and waited, assuming she would turn up eventually. When she did him... he... shot her." Large tears continued to roll down her cheeks as Snow almost lunged forward from where she had stood from her chair, to wrap her arms around her daughter. “He confronted her, asking where I was. Threatening her in case she told anyone what he had done, or in case I did… When she would not tell him where I was, he shot her twice. She died instantly…” Snow looked toward the ceiling as she clenched her fists behind Emma’s back, simultaneously silently thanking Angelica and damning Damien to hell.

The two said nothing for a matter of time, both still crying, both seeking solace in each other. Only the rest of the family traipsing back in, minus Killian, interrupted them. Emma considerably brightened to see Henry, who at 14 looked alarmed at the obvious distress of his younger mother and grandmother. Snow instantly vacated her seat, and Emma, ignoring the protest from her ribs, moved to the side of the bed so her son could join her. Emma glanced questioningly at her father as he handed her a drink from the cafeteria downstairs. The rest of them had hot drinks from Granny’s courtesy of Regina, but Emma had been handed a neon coloured isotonic drink which she promptly discarded after tasting it. Charming paused as he took in the state of his wife and daughter, before moving to her side, brushing his knuckles over his wife's cheek.   
  
"Killian has just gone to get you both some things. He's already had an argument with nurse Ratched and determined he'll be staying here with you for as long as you're in hospital." He spoke softly to his daughter as if he did not want to upset her any further. The young boy reflected his smile, but for the princess it was more of a scowl.


	17. Mother-Son Time

Emma half listened to what Henry was telling her about his history project on the civil rights movement while watching her parents have a whispered conversation, not so conspicuously glancing over at her, seeing Snow gesture over toward the bed. Emma sighed as she turned back to her son, the too frequent movements beginning to affect her ribs. He was watching her, his expression questioning, and a wave of guilt washed over Emma as she thought of the worry she was putting her family through. He was looking at her pointedly, as if he wanted her to say something, and she looked at him confused until he repeated his question.

“You alright ma?” he was whispering as if he did not want his grandparents to hear, but his face was deadly serious.

“Yeah kid. Hormones are going crazy, and everything hurts like a bi… witch.” Henry grinned despite the seriousness of the situation, leaning against the cushions until he noticed Emma wincing.

“Grandpa said you broke a rib. I googled it. That’s pretty rare ma, especially for a preemie…” Emma blinked back tears as she thought of the past few hours. She was exhausted and she was not even in active labour. “Anyway ma, one blog said that a baby could only really break your ribs if they were already weakened.” He lowered his voice again, so she could only just about hear him. “Does this have something to do with Angelica?” Emma nodded, unable to hold the tears back any longer, internally cursing herself for being so weak and crying so frequently. This time, Henry wrapped his gangly arms around the distressed blonde-haired person. She had told him about her old ‘guardian angel’ on one of their evenings together a few years previously when they had stayed up all night to learn about each other. He was the only person she had ever told. When Killian had seen the tattoo, she had told him it was in memory of someone special to her but did not explain any further than that. When Henry moved his arms around, Emma leant her head on his shoulder, comforted by how protective her son was, thinking to how he would be around his baby sister.

Henry turned on the over bed TV, setting the channel on a movie he had expressed his disgust at numerous times before. He knew however that ‘Something Borrowed’ was one of his younger mother’s secret favourite movies, no matter how many times she told people her favourite movies were the ‘Die Hard’ franchise. Emma had not had a contraction in a while, and so was oddly relaxed, the quiet buzz of her parents talking and interacting with Neal, the movie playing in front of her, and her sons comforting presence, relaxed her to the stage where she could begin to fall asleep.

In her half dozing state, Emma heard Snow explain, before hearing an over exaggerated ‘shush’ from David, at how beautiful her daughter and grandkids were. She felt Henry slide from beside her, and fought not to show she was half-awake when David shifted her on the bed, so she was lying comfortably and so she was less likely to damage her neck. She felt her mother’s delicate fingers stroke the hair from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear as she wrapped her baby blanket tighter around her.

Though she was tired, she stayed in the stage between awake and asleep for a while, listening to the different conversations going on around her. Her heart swelled as she heard Henry tell his grandparents that he had asked Granny to make a new baby blanket, similar to her own, that he had promised her his first three months’ wages from Gold’s shop if she could make it identical to Emma’s. She felt a twinge of guilt that she had somehow ruined his surprise.

Despite the guilt, the woman was dog-tired, but somehow she could not relax herself enough to fall into a proper sleep. She felt her husband’s presence before she heard him. She shifted slightly as the baby moved, as if she too, could sense her daddy, and it made Emma feel the same butterflies she always did around her true love. The door creaking open caused her to turn her head, opening her eyes in time to see Killian walk through the door, smiling warmly at his wife’s parents before he turned to see the love of his life watching him. Her smile lit up the room as he moved to her and quickly pulled her into his arms, carefully due to her ribs. Forgetting, or not noticing the others in the room watching them he kissed her, only stopping when she pushed against his chest, giggling like a teenager with her first crush.

The rest of the day continued with the family spending time together, playing cards, watching movies and cracking jokes until Whale came in around 7, informing the royal couple, their son and grandson that it was time to go. David, sensing Snow’s uneasiness at the request, squared up to the already disliked doctor for a moment, before Emma laughed a genuine laugh at her father’s antics, and they shuffled out of the room each wishing the couple goodnight. Henry hung back for a moment, wrapping his younger mother in a tight hug, promising to return the following day after he had done his homework. Emma, having not had a contraction for a few hours, comfortable next to her husband, and finally content, fell asleep.


	18. 'You and your boy and our girl'

The next few days were much of the same. Killian would only leave his saviours side when necessary, to eat or bathe, and Snow and Charming visited every day after work, sometimes with and sometimes without Neal. Ruby and Regina each came for a visit, and Henry would stop by for at least an hour each day after school. However, as much as she loved her family and friends wanting to spend time with her, the former sheriff was going out of her mind with the boredom. Every time she was alone, even if it was only for half an hour while Killian was showering, Emma would think back to all the times she ended up in hospital when she was a child, including the time with Angelica and broken ribs. When Killian would return she would want to be as physically close to him as possible, while at the same time, avoiding telling him what was bothering her.

Everything all came to a head when she had been in the hospital for 5 days. Killian had informed his wife he would be out for less than an hour, yet Emma had been watching the clock as it marked two hours since he had left the room. Snow and Charming were working, Henry was still in school and Emma was experiencing the worst backache of her life. After the lunch trays had been delivered and Emma had picked at hers, Whale had visited and informed her that she would probably need to be moved to a different ward if her labour had been stopped, as they needed the room, as well as tactfully informing her that if she was on the ward, Killian would no longer be able to stay with her, and visiting would be restricted, both number of visitors and times, the same as the others on the ward.

At the prospect of spending even one night alone in the hospital, Emma grew angry, and the frustration and annoyance that had been growing for a while caused her to snap. Whale barely had time to duck as Emma’s pudding cup sailed past his face and hit the wall behind him.

“GET OUT!” Emma yelled at the doctor as angry sobs tore through her, the blonde-haired person furiously dashing at her eyes in a latch ditch effort not to appear weak and in tears. She buried her face in her hands as her shoulders shook, her ribs protesting at the way she was curled into herself. Too fearful at the thought of being left alone, she let the tears fall. The anger quickly dissipated and gave way to sadness and anxiety and worry as she wept, trying to catch her breath.

She did not see Killian enter, nor did she hear his concerned attempts to get her to calm down and tell him why she was crying, or even to get her to pay attention to him at all. Ignoring her feeble effort to push him away, alarmed and troubled at how this outburst could be affecting his wife and daughter, he sat next to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight to his chest. It took a few minutes for her to stop sniffling enough to take a normal breath, and a few more minutes for the tears to stop falling. They sat, pressed together for a while more, until Killian had to check the precious woman in his arms had not fallen asleep in a position that would be uncomfortable for her.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, as she clutched his t-shirt as if it was her blanket, preventing him from moving anywhere outside of her immediate personal space. Gently he moved backwards from her grip so he could take a proper look at her, frowning at what he saw. His wife who had seemed so happy the past few days looked inconsolable and dare he say it, she had the look of abandonment in her eyes that made Killian’s heart break. He had seen it a few times in their past when she was telling him stories of her childhood, or where she was watching her parents with their new baby.

Seeing the distressed look in her husband’s eyes, caused Emma’s begin to water again, to which Killian used his thumbs to wipe them away as they fell. “Shush now love. It’s ok, I’m here now and I’m not leaving, either of you.” He moved one hand down to cover hers, which was cradling her stomach, and held her close again, whispering the same sentiments repeatedly.

While her husband was trying to make her remain calm, Emma was trapped in her thoughts. She could not rationally justify her reaction to Whale, but for some reason, the thought of being alone, even for a night, like she was almost three decades ago filled her with a feeling worse than dread. When Killian had lifted her chin to look at her, and seen the loneliness in her eyes, she saw the light appear to go out in his, and pain cover his features, which doubled her feeling of guilt at her overreaction. Eventually, after enjoying the comfort he bought her, she pulled away from him, watching him from under her lashes.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was small as she thought of her behaviour. “I know I’m being ridiculous, but you said you’d be half an hour. You were gone almost three hours Killian, you did not answer your cell, and I thought something might have happened to you. I’ve been left alone my whole life and all I could think was that you left me and our daughter that you’d worked out like everyone did when I was younger that I wasn’t worth your time…” Killian would not let her speak any longer, he pressed his lips to hers trying to make her stop talking, to convey in that one kiss that she was his true love and he would never leave her. His kiss was reciprocated, their worries shortly forgotten. The blonde-haired person opened her mouth to speak again, but he kissed her again, unable to stop the self-satisfied smile against her lips as she moaned into the kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck.

All too soon though, he pulled away, noticing the brief flicker of rejection as it crossed her face, and the tears that built up in her eyes. Before they could fall, he spoke, his voice soft lest she reach that level of anxiety again. “I’m sorry I scared you love. Time got away from me; I was putting the finishing touches to our little princess’s room and I haven’t had a chance to charge the blasted thing.” He gently brushed his thumbs across her cheeks, the tears dried, but the tracks remained. “I love you Emma, and I love our daughter already more than words can say. I will be by your side until the day you send me away and not a second sooner.” He gripped her hand in his and pressed her palm to his chest. “Feel that? My heart beats for you Emma, you and your boy, and our girl.”

The anxious blonde-haired person looked up at her true love, her hand resting over his heartbeat, silent for a few seconds before she smiled widely, the first truly honest grin Killian had seen in the past few days. They sat in close proximity for a while, Emma telling her partner the ending of the story of Angelica, including the funeral and the home she had been sent to after Angelica, down to when she decided to get the tattoo. A few more tears were shed, but it appeared Emma had cried herself out and so just sat, tracing patterns on Killian’s palms with her index finger. Her backache was all but forgotten, but she was content.


	19. Unrealistic Expectations

About half an hour before Henry was due to arrive, Emma pulled out of her husband’s arms, giving him a quick kiss before stepping off the bed to head towards the end suite. She moved slowly, removing all the monitors but keeping her IV attached, as Killian passed her a large towel from the cupboard beside the bed. The pregnant woman was in desperate need of a shower, and the thought of seeing her son spurned her on, despite her rapidly worsening backache and the throbbing of her broken ribs.

She hears the former pirate messing around with the TV, grinning to herself at the fact her technology-illiterate husband was slowly learning the functions of modern day technology. She giggled as she heard him muttering about unrealistic expectations of pirates and realised he had landed on the movie ‘Pan’, the latest movie available on the hospital screens. He continued to grumble, as Emma stepped into the open shower space, and heard him compare himself to Blackbeard, determining he was, himself, the ‘baldest pirate around’.

The smirk dropped from her face however as she felt a sharp twinge spasm across her stomach. She stepped out of the shower space, having been under the water for all of 30 seconds, wrapping the towel tightly around herself, as she felt a wetness spread between her legs.

“Killian!”

He was at her side in an instant. “Love, you’re bleeding…” He pointed down to the towel where a red stain was spreading. With a groan, Emma straightened herself up, gripping onto the rail that was attached to the wall.

“Go and get a nurse, and Whale. Now, Killian,” she snapped as he stood stock still for a second. With a curt nod, he flew from the room, the loud crack of the door handle hitting the wall, reverberating around the room, making her jump into action. She hobbled to the bed, the pain preventing her from moving a couple of steps before pausing. She pulled an old sweatshirt from the cabinet, pulling it over her head, she could not bend down to pull any clothes on and so swapped the towel that was wrapped around waist her for a clean, darker one from home.

Only a couple of minutes after he had rushed the room, Killian was back, Whale in tow with nurse Retched and another mousey nurse following behind. The angry-looking nurse glared at the blonde-haired person, as they helped her back onto the bed, attaching the foetal monitor among others, as Whale checked Emma over. The exasperated woman began to grind her teeth at the discomfort in her abdomen as it became almost unbearable.

The nurse twisted the foetal machine to face Whale so he could have a look at what was registering. He frowned, glancing up at the other monitor to check Emma’s heartrate before looking back at the screen. “There are a few abnormalities with the foetal heartrate but nothing severe enough to concern us yet Mrs Jones. I’d like you to get an ultrasound so we can rule out placental praevia...” He paused at her expression, pressing print on the machine. “Don’t worry, it’s unlikely to be that, and we just need to rule it out.” At her nod, the mousey nurse who had yet to speak, ran from the room and returned with a portable ultrasound machine. Killian moved to the side of the bed the staff weren’t standing on, grasping Emma’s hand tightly, as they watched Whale perform the ultrasound, both too anxious to look at the screen, even though they had no idea what they were looking at.

Before long, the nurse was wiping the gel from Emma’s stomach, as Whale nodded at the couple. “Well I can confirm it isn’t placental praevia Emma, I’m going to get our midwife to take a look at you, rule out infection or anything that could explain the bleeding, and if we can’t find anything I may suggest you have an MRI to determine if this is an abruption.” He frowned as the nurse whispered to him that the patient was still bleeding mildly. “We’re going to give you an infusion of blood but as soon as we have determined the cause of the bleeding, we may need to look at delivering your daughter.”

Emma opened her mouth to start speaking, but before she could, she heard the door creak open. The first thing she saw was the shaggy mop of hair that was her teenage son, peering around the door at the commotion. The blonde-haired person blanched as she looked up from her son’s terrified face to her mothers, who looked as pale as she did, as the family stood, not moving from the doorway. She glanced at Charming, tilting her head towards Henry. With an almost imperceptible nod, Charming gently pushed Henry into the room so he was standing next to the bed.

“Hey kid. Looks like you will be meeting your little sister sooner than we thought. However, I am going to need you to do me a favour if you can kid. I need you to call your mom, and ask her if she’d mind looking after Neal for the night, she won’t say no to you.” Henry nodded, kissing his mother on the cheek, as he took the toddler by the hand. He was slightly annoyed by his dismissal but one look at Killian’s face told him to just so whatever she asked.

Within the hour, the midwife who had introduced herself as Giselle had visited and checked Emma over, Whale had left, returned and left again, Charming had been called to an emergency at the station and Snow and Killian sat together as she watched a nurse draw blood from the blonde and set up an IV for her infusion. Charming walked back into the room and took a seat next to his wife less than an hour after he had left. The next time Whale returned, he had a slightly sombre look on his face, seeing it made Emma’s stomach drop. “I’ve had a word with your midwife Emma, and we think that a placental abruption is causing your bleed. Although it is a fairly mild to moderate tear, you have had a fairly abnormal amount of bleeding, despite the infusion. Now despite some irregular readings earlier we do not believe your baby is in any distress, but for both your safety and hers, we will be looking to try and induce labour. To prevent any further bleeding, we would like to try and deliver as soon as possible.”


	20. And So It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible Trigger Warning

There was a second before everyone began speaking at once.

“What the hell does an ‘abnormal amount’ mean?”

“Will delivering prematurely not have an effect on the baby?”

“What about Emma, is there any danger to my wife?”

“How can you go from inducing labour when yesterday you were trying to prevent it?”

“When will…?”

“EVERYONE SHUT UP!” Emma huffed and looked at the doctor. “I am unbelievably tired. My back hurts like a witch, and if it is safe for my daughter for you to get her out now then that is what I want you to do.” Whale nodded as the other members of the family gaped at her. Killian stood and grabbed Whale by the elbow, turning him to face him with an angry whisper.

“Whatever happens, my wife is the priority. Anything happens to her and I swear Whale, the whole force of Storybrooke will come down on you. Whale had the decency to not patronise the scared expectant father, instead he nodded and walked from the room. Emma waited until her family had stopped arguing among themselves until she began to talk again.

“Dad, please can you go and drop Henry and Neal off with Regina. Killian, please do not threaten my doctor, as he is the one that is going to deliver our child. Mama, please get the nurse and tell her to bring some new sheets, and tell her that they won’t need to induce labour as my waters have just broken.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in before David walked from the room and Snow dug a sharp elbow into Killian’s ribs, gesturing with a stern glance to go and get the nurse. Moments later, the brunette had placed some clean towels upon the large chair and was helping her daughter off the bed and into the chair, moving all the machines she was connected to until they were next to her. Her next step was to strip the bed, ignoring Emma telling her that she would do it herself, putting them out of the way until the could be removed, and left the room for a handful of seconds to get Emma a drink of ice water from the machine down the corridor.

Killian reappeared then, hot on the heels of the midwife who had examined her only an hour or so previously. The smiling bubbly woman, who had the same colour shock of hair that Zelena had, determined it was ‘time’. “Ok Emma, we’re going to take you to the birthing suite now. You’re around three centimetres dilated so it may be sometime, or you may be holding your little girl in an hour, depends on how well she cooperates. We’d like to be safe knowing about your ribs and the abruption so I’ll be around the whole time and Whale will be on standby…”

“Shoot!”

Emma sighed, her teeth snapping together as she was hit with a contraction. Giselle smirked, shaking her head at the blonde as an orderly entered with a wheelchair. “Now we have your birthing plan which might need a second look, but you are both in perfectly safe hands. Just a few more hours and you’ll be holding your new daughter.” Snow’s grin at the comment instantly dropped as she saw her daughter’s grimace, but deciding to blame it on the contractions, she plastered a grin on her face, and moved behind the chair as Emma slipped into it. She began to push the chair, leaving Killian to pack up all their things into a bag to move to the new room, having been informed she would be moved to the maternity unit after the birth.

As the daughter and soon to be granddaughter of the Queen and Prince of Misthaven, they would be given their own room. Sensing her distress, Snow moved one hand from the handle of the wheelchair to her daughter’s shoulder, squeezing gently. Almost immediately, the younger woman removed her mother’s hand from her shoulder, pulling it across her chest to hold it tightly in her own, squeezing it as she was hit with another contraction. They soon made it to the elevator, Emma still holding Snow’s hand, and she used her other hand to grab hold of Killian. She could feel how tense he was just from the stiff way he stood beside her. She glanced up at him, seeing his eyes tight, only softening when he looked down at her as she stroked her thumb over his knuckles.

He gripped her hand tightly in his, sharing a smile with his mother in law. “So this is it… it’s happening. I’m gonna be a dad.” Snow beamed at the prospect of soon meeting her new granddaughter. She nodded jubilantly at the man who was technically older than her, who she considered her son, before noticing Emma was looking between them both, watery-eyed.

“Don’t worry Em… Killian won’t be leaving your side,” she paused, shooting him a mock glare, “and I am here for whatever you need.” The elevator dinged before anyone could say another word, and Emma squeezed her mother and husband’s hands before dropping them, curling into herself as a strong contraction hit. Giselle was stood outside the maternity ward, jokingly tapping her foot and looking at her watch as she held the door open

The redhead frowned at her patient, taking over from Snow as she pushed the chair into the ward, following the corridors to the birthing suite. Quickly she was laying down, her mother and husband at either side of her as Giselle attached a BP and heartrate monitor, and checked to see if there had been any advance. “Four centimetres Emma, we’re making progress! So I don’t know how much you remember from your first labour but you are now in the active stage of labour. Your contractions will be…” She was interrupted by a loud groan from the patient, who clenched her fists by her sides, her eyes closed tightly. Giselle looked at her lapel watch as she counted the seconds until Emma’s face relaxed. “A lot closer together and will last for longer.” She finished, frowning as she noticed Emma’s blood pressure of 137/94, slightly higher than expected.

Snow followed the midwife’s gaze and frowned at the screen, before the ringing of her phone made her jump. Killian was busy whispering quietly to his wife and so Snow, seeing the glare on Giselle’s face stepped outside to take the call. It was David, concerned that he had returned to find everyone gone and the room already ready for the next visitor. She told him where they were and went to wait at the elevator to meet him, after a fleeting glance back to her daughter causing a proud smile to automatically cover her face.

At Emma’s insistence when they returned, the couple waited outside the suite, in a little waiting area next to the nurses’ station. They sat close together, fingers linked as they stared at the wall in front of them, covered in pictures of babies that had been born in that ward, the pictures were crammed together, with some ‘thank you’ cards pinned between them. Snow was grinning madly, knowing soon her granddaughter would soon join them up there.

OUAT

Inside the room, Killian was sat perched on the side of the bed next to Emma, scrolling through his phone as he showed her pictures that had been taken of the baby’s new room. They were talking, just filling the time while they were waiting. Well, Killian was doing most of the talking, Emma was more wrapped in her own thoughts, and was squeezing Killian’s hands whenever she felt a contraction. With the help of Henry, Killian had done a little research into the stages of labour and knew for the next few hours at least, his wife was going to be in a lot of pain.

He waited until her grip relaxed in his, putting his phone in his pocket. Calling her name so she looked up at him, she smiled, and he passed her a bottle of cold water with a straw that had been bought in, holding it so she could take a sip. She mock glared at him, a look that Killian knew meant she was indignant with his help, that she could do it herself. He couldn’t help but grin at her expression, answering her unasked question. “You’ve been growing our child for months’ love, the least I can do is make sure you’re hydrated when you’re bringing her into this world.” He pressed a kiss to her furrowed brow, before taking her hand again.

He leaned down to reach his bag from the chair, picking up one of the books that he had brought in for her days ago, tucking her hair behind her ear as she winced at a particularly painful contraction. With a glance, and a nod from the blonde, Killian began to read aloud from the book, his voice soft as he kept a hold on his wife. “Once upon a time…”

OUAT

Three hours later, Giselle declared Emma officially 9cm dilated and in the transitional stage of labour. Charming and Snow had been down to the cafeteria, the place they’d visited so many times in the past week, when Killian had called them, having looked for them outside and seen the seats vacated. They had rushed up the stairs, hanging up as soon as Killian had used the word ‘emergency’, reaching the room in half the time it took to go downstairs.

Emma was swearing at Killian and yelling at Giselle when they entered panicking the parents, but Giselle’s easy smile indicated there was nothing wrong. “Mr and Mrs Nolan, Emma is in the final stage of labour, shouldn’t be too long now.” She smiled down at the blonde, shaking her head in amusement when she was told to ‘duck right off’, before turning back to her patient’s parents. “Emma _kindly_ requested your presence Snow.” With a wink she left the room. Promising to return soon.

Snow glanced at her husband, who nodded, his brow furrowed. Emma was in the middle of a tirade to Killian, having not yet noticed her parents, and was shouting about how this was ‘all his fault’ and how he was never touching her again. Remembering this stage of her labour with Neal she sympathized with her daughter, having said the same thing to David at the time. “Emma…”

Instant confusion followed when Emma looked up at her mother with a smile, the polar opposite of the way she was looking at Killian. “Momma! You’re here!” She reached for her mother’s hand, clenching it instantly with the contraction. It felt like minutes to the blonde, but the grip on Snow’s hand loosened slightly after around 90 seconds. “Mom I can’t do this. I can’t be a mom, look at Henry. I had nothing to do with the young man that he’s become. What if I can’t give this one her best chance...?” Tears pricked at her eyes again as she looked wildly around the room for Killian. Noticing her desperation, he was instantly by her side, both his hands enveloping her spare.

“Ssshh my love, it’s ok. You’re not alone. I’m here, your parents are here, you’re doing such a good job.” He pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead, whispering in her ear as her whole body tensed at her next contraction. Snow pouted as Emma released her hand, but it was to brush the hair away from her face. With a pat on the shoulder, Snow moved to the back of the bed, gently pulling Emma’s overly long curls up and deftly braiding her hair so it remained out of her face. As she tied the braid, she placed a kiss at the top of her head, before walking back to her husband, wrapping her arms around his waist. They stood, talking about Neal and Henry and their new granddaughter, trying to guess what they were planning on naming her.

_“_ _Come my little friends, as we all sing a happy little working song…” _

Killian stopped his whispering, Snow and Charming stopped their discussion, and even Emma turned at the sound of singing from outside the room. She even giggled, as Giselle walked in to the room, humming to the same tune she was just singing. As she stepped over to the bed, Emma yelled out, her contractions now consistent. With a quick check, and a look at the foetal monitor. Giselle grinned broadly, looking over to the tearful patient. “Alright Emma. It’s time! 10cm. I’m just going to page Dr Whale, he’ll bring a nurse with him, and then next time you feel a contraction I need you to push.” Emma nodded, looking up at Killian, his grin almost contagious at the thought of almost seeing their daughter.

Snow released her husband and moved back over to her daughter’s side, speaking words of encouragement to the blonde. It was a brief moment of respite before the most painful part of childbirth began. She looked around at her family before her eyes fell on her father who was watching half of his family from the other side of the room, Emma scoffed. “Dad, as much as I love you, I don’t think either of us want you here when I start… pushing…” She smirked at his cringe at the word before he pressing a kiss to her cheek as he stepped outside the room.

As he left, Whale entered, a nurse in tow, moving to where Giselle was stood. The nurse helped Emma move so she was ready, her mother and her husband holding on to her hands. “Alright Emma, next contraction you’ll feel the need to push, so do. If we tell you to stop, stop, remember to breathe.” The blonde saviour glared at the blonde doctor as the redhead piped up. “It will hurt like a witch Emma, but it will all be worth it.” The perky midwife also received a glare as Emma groaned, the contraction signalling her need to push.

Snow and Killian both took it in turns speaking reassurances to Emma, allowing her to grip their hands as she needed. After a number of minutes Emma groaned, leaning back on the bed. “I can’t do it; it hurts too much!” Emma was quiet, her voice weary. Killian squeezed her hand, “you’re doing so great Emma, you can do this. A few more pushes and she’ll be here…” She turned her head towards her mother, perspiration evident on her forehead. “Momma I can’t. You do it for me.” Snow couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled out of her. “You’re so close honey. Nearly there. You’re doing so good.” Another cry and she leant into it, squeezing her eyes tight shut.

“That was a good one Emma, I can see the head!” Whale grinned, gesturing to Killian to see if he wanted to take a look. Whale didn’t understand it himself, but some expectant fathers wanted to watch the whole process from the bloody end. Emma gasped at the pain, and Killian shook his head at the doctor, moving his right hand to rub small circles between her shoulder blades instead. Snow smiled at the sight, lifting the hand that she was holding before pressing a kiss to the knuckles, shaking her head in mirth at the questioning look she shot her.

“You can do this honey. This is a moment you’ll want to share with your husband without your mother interfering. Emma shook her head frantically, tears pooling in her eyes. “It’s ok sweetheart, me and your father will be right outside, and we cannot wait to meet our granddaughter.” Without another word, she left the room as Whale spoke up.

“Ok Emma, we’re getting there. I need you to give me another big push and we’ll have the head out.” Giselle took up the spot where Snow had just vacated, and placed a calming hand on her arm.

“Just go with the feeling Emma, she’ll soon be here…” Clenching her teeth, Emma moved to clasp the redhead’s hand, clutching tightly to the grip she already had on Killian, pushing with all her might. “Fantastic Emma, the head is out. Just the shoulders to go and you’ll have your baby!” The fatigued woman leaned back against the bed, shaking her head.

“No, I can’t do it anymore… I just want to sleep.”

Killian released her hand, moving down to where Whale was delivering their daughter. “Oh, Emma she is so beautiful! She looks just like you!” The former pirate couldn’t tear his eyes away from his not yet fully-born little girl. “Emma she can’t wait to see you, one more push and you can see her too”. Finally, he glanced away from the infant and looked back to his wife, seeing the air of determination in her features as she watched the look of adoration in her true love’s eyes.

Killian took his wife’s hand once more, not hearing Whale’s whisper to the nurse to go and find the neonatal specialist. Killian pressed a kiss to her temple, as she cried out, the burning pain causing her to close her eyes to prevent the tears from falling. Giselle moved down, pressing down on Emma’s pelvis at Whale’s instruction, trying to shift the shoulders into a better position. At the next contraction she was told to push, hard.

After pushing for what felt like an eternity, but in reality it was mere moments, Emma felt the burning sensation recede some, and opened her eyes with a smile as she heard Whale announce, “It’s a girl!” Though she was tired, the blonde could not wait to see her daughter, so looked up in worry when she heard nothing coming from the other side of the room, and hurried footsteps coming through the door. At a glance she could tell her husband looked as sick as she felt, and was probably wondering the same thing.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t she crying?” Her voice began to waver, speaking louder as she began to panic, not hearing as Giselle determined she was going to deliver the placenta. She caught a glimpse of the tiny infant, a yellowish tinge to her skin as she began to feel lightheaded. “Killian, stay with her!”

Killian was torn. He glanced from his wife to his daughter and back again. It was as if he could only see them, the other people in the room faded to darkness. All he could hear was the deafening silence of his daughter and the sound that the monitors that were attached to his wife made when her blood pressure plummeted.


	21. Identical

Snow glanced up at her husband for a second before looking back down at the warm, mewling bundle in her arms. The grin had not left her face she was handed the child by the proud father. The couple had had discussions on the name, but had not informed the royal couple were eagerly awaiting the announcement, but they were content just looking at her.

The child had been cleaned and checked and was perfectly healthy. Charming had stated when he first saw her that she looked just like a potato, but that she was the cutest potato he had ever seen. He had received a swift elbow to the gut for that one, but it had made Emma smile and so he had done his job.

Snow was staring at the newborn, now only a few hours old, and she could see similarities between her and her mother. Charming wrapped his arm round his wife’s waist, and pressed a kiss to her temple, his other hand gently stroking the cheek of his youngest grandchild. Snow managed to look up from the adorable creature in her arms to look at her daughter, who was watching them sleepily, her smile only widening as she saw her son-in-law place an adoring kiss on his wife’s forehead before placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

Everyone had told Emma to get some rest; that the baby princess had her daddy, her grandparents and a whole host of medical staff looking after her, but after witnessing her daughter not breathing at birth, the second time mother had not let her daughter out of her sight. A whisper of her name in her ear drew her attention back to the newest addition to their family. Charming had lifted her hand, examining every part of it down to her fingernails and the already loved child had his pinkie finger in a death grip. With a glance up to her true love, she could tell by the look in his eye that he was noticing the same things she was as he watched his granddaughter in wonder. There were some clear similarities between the baby and how Emma had looked when she was a newborn.

The royal couple had spent the five minutes they had with their firstborn memorizing every inch of her face and, save the 28-year gap; they had never forgotten the features that made their daughter. Now looking at their daughter’s first daughter, they could see some features that were almost identical. Snow had read during her pregnancy with Neal in her favourite ‘what to expect’ book that a babies eyes will change numerous times before they settle, but even so, Snow could swear that the shade of blue of the infants eyes currently, was the same hue that Emma’s had been at birth. Emma’s hair was slightly lighter when she was born than it was now, and the downy fluff on the newborns head was slightly darker than Emma’s current shade. Though Snow had always considered Emma to be the most beautiful girl in the world, she had declared loudly, and to anyone within hearing distance that her daughters new baby was just as, if not more adorable.

All too soon, however, the little bundle in Snow’s arms began to wail; and Emma stretched her arms out for her daughter. This was new all of them. The first time Emma had given birth, the baby had been removed from the room not to be seen for a number of years, the same with Snow. Killian had never had any dealings with people with infants, and Charming had spent his childhood around babies of the animal variety, not human. After Emma had a hold of her daughter, she closed her eyes, breathing in the newborn smell as she took a moment to just be with her baby. When she elicited another wail, Emma frowned, passing the bundle into her husband’s welcoming arms. She huffed as Kilian cuddled their shared child to his chest, settling down with her into a chair to give her a feed.

Emma had expressed her want to her mother and her husband to try breastfeeding, and ultimately do everything she hadn’t had a chance to do with Henry with her new child. However, Whale had advised her to abstain for 48 hours while the drugs she had been given after her collapse left her system. Instead, she watched as Snow sat beside her husband and took the tiny hand in hers as she drank sleepily from the doll-sized bottle, commenting to Killian how the baby’s nose was unmistakably his. As happy as she was with her expanded family, the blonde couldn’t help but feel emotional with everything that had gone on, and that everyone had held her daughter more than she had. She turned away from two of the three loves of her life as she felt her father settle next to her on the bed.

It took all she had to not get up and tear her baby out of her husband’s arms, hold her close and not let go. She had passed out before Whale and the specialist had managed to get her daughter breathing. To Killian it had seemed like hours as he watched one specialist try and make his daughter breathe while another was trying to stem his wife’s bleed, but in reality, less than three minutes after her birth was she breathing, and seemingly perfectly healthy, and within the hour Emma was in recovery from minor surgery, awake and begging to see her baby. They were informed they would have to spend a few days observation in the hospital, but as much as Killian had tried to persuade Emma their kid was fine, she just wanted to see for herself.

She could see how much her husband and parents adored the little one, and could see, although the three of them tried to pay attention to the mother as well as the daughter, they were already besotted with the new princess.

“Hey there princess.” The blonde saviour was drawn out of her thoughts as her father squeezed her ankle. Her frown at her mother was pointed at her father as she turned to face him. “Don’t be too hard on your mother honey; I know she’ll be quite the presence in your life for a while but this is her second chance to be involved in the raising of a little princess…” Emma nodded, and this time it was David’s turn to frown, the whole thought of watching the baby girl grow would be bittersweet for the royal couple. She looked back to the baby, who was being rocked to sleep in her father’s arms.

“I know dad. She hasn’t stopped staring at her since the moment she walked in… Do you think she’s replaced me with her granddaughter?” It was meant to be a joke, but there were undertones of her childhood abandonment in her voice. David’s serious face made her frown, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her chest. “What’s up dad? Now is supposed to be a happy time…”

“Whale told me what happened.” He raised a brow at his stubborn daughter, as she took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly. “Ruby did some research for me while we were waiting. It’s funny how no one mentioned the possible complications of an abruption, how you didn’t tell us…” He took a breath to calm himself. “Do you have any idea what it was like to see Killian walk out of the room in tears, tell us you were bleeding and unconscious, and that no, we couldn’t see you…? Do you have any inclination of how that felt?” Emma nodded, ignoring the searing pain as she sat up straight, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Don’t worry about me daddy. I’m the saviour. Storybrooke needs me; I’m not going anywhere…” She smiled as he chuckled, hugging her tight. It had been a long time since he had felt this closeness with his daughter, with dark ones and time travel and villains always getting in the way.

“Well I do have to say, my daughter makes beautiful kids. She must have good genes.” He grinned, groaning as her elbow met his ribs, moving to sit properly beside her so she was comfortable and could try and get some sleep. Together they watched his wife and her husband doting on the little girl. When the infant was deep asleep, Emma held her arms out, wanting the physical closeness that had been missing between them in the few hours she had been born.

“It’s my turn. Gimme my baby!”

Killian stood, gently kissing the infants downy curls as he placed the one love of his life into the others arms. She settled; grinning as the newborn snuggled closer to her in her sleep, seeking out the comfort of the person she had been closest to for the last number of months. Charming moved off the bed, kissing the tops of his daughters and granddaughters heads. “You did good honey.”

Killian quickly moved into the spot Charming had vacated, watching the smile of contentment on Emma’s face, as she lay back with her eyes closed. Having spent a great deal of time at the hospital, the grandparents decided to leave, going to pick up their son and spend some much needed family time with their altered family unit. They whispered their goodnights, barely receiving responses as they made to leave the room. Surprisingly it was Charming that needed Snow to physically remove him from the room, telling him the couple needed time to bond with their new baby. She didn’t miss his frown as they had the same thought, that they’d never had that chance with her.

When they stepped outside the room, the older couple wrapped their arms around each other, staring at each other as a mixture of emotions flashed through them. Charming knew how difficult this was for his wife, and so kissed her gently, leaning their foreheads together as they basked in the feeling.

“Did you see how much…?” Charming began.

“She looks like Emma?” Snow finished his sentence, knowing they’d been feeling the same things for the past hour. She continued with a desolate smile. “I memorized every tiny detail of our princess before she was taken from us, do not think I did not recognise every similarity.

Charming chuckled; he knew his wife well. “Well then. Let’s go get our boy. We’ll come back tomorrow, bring Henry to see his sister…” He didn’t need to finish his thoughts. Snow knew her husband well too; she knew he was just as desperate to return to his daughter and make sure she was alright. They left the hospital hand in hand. Their family tree was even more complicated now, but the couple had never felt more love than they did for their daughter and son, and grandson and granddaughter.


	22. Extended Family Tree

The couple had left Neal in the care of others for far longer than they’d liked, so they ignored the time and went to Regina’s to collect their son, and inform her that Henry was allowed to visit after school the next day, if Regina permitted of course. Snow leaned into her husband’s side as they walked from the car to Regina’s front door, sleepiness clear on her face. Charming however was still wide awake; and he knew that his son would be too. With a quick knock on the door, it only took a matter of seconds, the couple couldn’t hear the usual tell-tale sound of the mayor’s heels clicking on the tiles, until the door opened and they saw why.

They didn’t expect to see what they did when the door open, that was the usually business attired mayor in sweatpants, holding Neal on her hip as he slept against her shoulder. Snow perked up at the sight, eliciting a quiet ‘awe’ at the sight. Regina was smiling, a rare sight and it made Snow grin at her back. Charming stepped forward to take Neal from the woman, but instead she stepped back, moving out of the way of the door so the couple could enter. Charming shuffled past the reformed evil queen, wanting to take his son from her, but he looked so comfortable and content where he lay that Charming didn’t dare disturb him.

The mayor led them into her study, laying the sleeping toddler down on a little nest of blankets she’d set up on the sofa next to her desk and covered him in what looked like a blanket similar to Emma’s, which was blue and had Neal’s name stitched onto it in white. Regina noticed the couple watching her and frowned, moving to stand behind the desk. “I’m sorry, I should have asked. I got Granny to make it when… but then all that with Zelena and I never found the right time to give it to you… well, him.” Snow nodded, happiness evident on her face.

“Oh Regina, it is perfect, thank you…” She stepped up behind the desk, ignoring Regina’s raised brow at the intrusion and wrapped her arms around her briefly. She didn’t miss Regina’s small smile before it was masked quickly and she stepped back. She turned to Charming who was ignoring the women, and watching his son sleep, before she turned back to her former stepmother. “I love it Regina, but I think you should keep it here with you, so he has a blanket for when he’s visiting his favourite aunt…” This time Regina couldn’t hide her smile as she nodded kindly at the former queen.

“So tell me, how is the little one? And Emma of course...?” This time Charming spoke up, the love for his family reflected in his eyes as he spoke of them. “She’s great. There was a little complication post-birth but she was sorted quickly and now she’s fine. The baby, well she’s just the most beautiful baby in the world…” His speech was interrupted as Neal snuffled in his sleep, calling out for his mama. Charming was surprised when Regina moved from behind the desk and started towards the child, pausing as Snow stepped up to the sofa and knelt before him. She grinned at him as his eyes fluttered open and he smiled his adorable cheeky smile at his mom, before looking past her at the mayor, who had taken a seat on the edge of the desk. Snow sat back on her heels as the toddler rubbed his eyes with chubby fists, reaching his arms out, seemingly to Snow’s shoulder.

It all became clear when he frowned at the older brunette, whining when she didn’t instantly pick him up. “Ginaaaaaa”. Snow quickly schooled her features, masking her frown, as she looked back at the woman she once called mom. With a quick nod, Regina stepped forward, and lifted the tot into her arms, cradling him to her chest. She kissed his palm as he pressed it against her face, before pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Hey sweetheart. Look who’s here? Mommy and daddy!” Her smile was genuine, if not a little forced as she passed him over into Snow’s welcoming arms. Like any toddler, he was instantly back to being enamoured with his mom as she peppered his little face with kisses.

“Come on baby, time to go home.” She turned to Regina, recovered from her jealousy at her son choosing Regina to pick him up, a sincere smile now covering her features as her youngest grabbed a fistful of her short hair. “Thank you Regina, so much for looking after him. If you don’t mind, we’ll be back in the morning to take Henry to the hospital, with your permission of course…” She paused as Neal started shuffling in her arms, wanting to get down from her grip. With a sigh, Snow released him, huffing loudly as he ran straight to his father and asked to be lifted up. The proud grandfather chuckled as he lifted his son into his arms, high enough so he could blow a raspberry on the toddler’s stomach. His shrieks reverberated around the room as he giggled loudly, gripping onto his father’s ears as he was tickled. Leaving the two women to the argument that it looked like was about to erupt, he left the room with the still squealing boy in his arms. The two women could hear him from outside, talking to his son, telling him all about the young boy’s new niece. Snow beamed at the sound before turning on her heel to face the former evil queen.

“Regina…”


	23. Steve the Sleepy Sheep

The two were quiet in the study for a while, and Charming breathed a sigh of relief that he couldn’t hear any shouts or cursing coming from the room. He stepped away from the door after a few moments and walked into what looked like her living room and sat Neal next to the fire, making sure the protective gate was secured before he moved over to the bookshelf in the corner that held a lot of Henry’s schoolbooks, but also books that looked like they were from his childhood. He picked one from the shelf and returned to his son, sitting down beside him. He grinned as his youngest climbed into his lap and snuggled against his chest, his chubby hands reaching for the book that David had picked. With a kiss atop his son’s curls he opened the book to where Neal could see and began to read.

“Steve the Sleepy Sheep…”

David read, pausing every time Neal pointed at the pictures, exclaiming what each of the animals were. By the end of the story, the tot was asleep, drooling against his dad’s chest. When he read the last line and closed the book, movement in the corner of his eye caused him to look up, seeing his wife and boss in the doorway. They were both smiling, which was what stopped David from jumping up to check on his wife, when he saw the tear stains on her face. Snow knelt down next to her husband, her eyes shining as she lifted her sleeping son into her arms. David stood and stretched, replacing the book in the bookcase as Snow wrapped her spare arm around Regina. David was surprised to see Regina awkwardly return the hug, before heading back into her study to collect Neal’s belongings.

“So we’ll see you tomorrow then?” Snow nodded, and Regina lightly kissed the kid on the forehead, shutting the door behind her when she went inside. The couple walked to the car with their son in silence, David leading the way as Snow watched her son sleep, ignoring David’s attempts to question her about Regina until they were away from her house.

David only glanced questioningly at his wife as she began to strap Neal into his chair. She shut the door quietly and turned to her husband, stepping into his arms on the sidewalk. He leaned down and kissed her soundly as she looked up at him. “Was I dreaming in there or did you and Regina… hug?” Snow giggled as she grasped the back of his shirt, pulling him in for another kiss before stepping away from him.

“Get in the car Charming. We’ll talk at home. I want to get into our bed knowing my whole family is happy and healthy.” With a quick shake of his head he held open the door for her.

“Your majesty.” He gestured inside the car, pretending to bow as she slid into the seat, and moved around the front of his car, sliding into his own seat. With a quick glance back at his son, still soundly sleeping he started the car, looking forward to being able to go home with his wife and youngest, safe in the knowledge that Emma and his granddaughter were receiving the best care in hospital. He kept looking at the road as Snow took his hand, but squeezed it tightly, keeping hold until they got back to their apartment.

It's Charming that takes Neal from the car, and carries the waking boy up the stairs to their apartment as Snow rushes ahead to open the door. By the time Charming has Neal inside he’s awake, the constant movement and different people preventing him from settling. When David tried to settle him in his bed he began to grizzle, and it took half an hour and another two stories before he was asleep again.

By the time David eventually managed to go to bed Snow was sat in a nightgown he had never seen before, atop the duvet with her ankles crossed. She wiggled her eyebrows as he stood stock still in the doorway, for a few seconds. When she beckoned him with a finger and raised a brow, he began to undo his shoelaces, and hopped towards the bed at the same time. She giggled as he tripped over his undone laces, and tried not to laugh loudly when he ended up sitting on his backside with a startled expression. Seeing that her husband was not making a move to get up, she kneeled at the end of the bed, peering down at him.

The prince glared up at his Queen as she reached out a hand to help him, which morphed into a smile as he grasped her hand in his. His gentle expression transformed into a wicked grin as he tugged, pulling his wife right off the bed on top of him. His true love was tiny, and her weight falling on him didn’t really affect him. What made him grunt at the impact however, was when her bony knee landed right in the nads. Snow gasped at her husbands wounded expression and frowned as she moved to stand up so she could help him, she didn’t expect the pained man to grab a hold of her hips so she couldn’t stand, shifting her legs so she was straddling his waist. With an excited grin, the young woman leant down and claimed his lips, expressing all the emotion and love of the day into the kiss.

The couple didn’t move from the floor for an hour and when they did finally manage to get back on the bed, it was another hour before they collapsed, exhausted into each other’s arms, whispering and sharing sweet kisses until they fell asleep.


	24. Pancakes and Pictures

Despite his late night, Charming still woke early, and with his beautiful wife still away with the fairies he decided to check on the littlest Charming and make breakfast in bed for Snow. The toddler, even with all the craziness and dysfunction of the week was awake in his bed and seemed happy when he saw his dad in his doorway. He was even happier when David asked his son if he wanted to help make mommy breakfast and surprise her with it in bed.

They made pancakes, Charming allowing Neal to sit on the counter as he mixed the batter, along with crispy bacon and eggs. They were plating the food up when Snow cleared her throat from the doorway. She surveyed the mess then men had made with a raised brow, but the twinkle in her eye showed she was not really mad. As soon as Neal noticed his mommy watching them, he poked David, who was already watching his blushing wife, yelling louder than necessary.

“Look daddy, mommy!” Charming chuckled as the young boy clambered down, with David’s help, from the stool he was stood on and flung himself at his mother’s knees. The pixie-haired brunette lifted her son from the ground, peppering kisses all over his face. He giggled, pushing her face away from his. “Mommy we maked bweakfast!” Her eyes shined with love at her little prince who was unable to pronounce his ‘r’s’ as Charming joined them in the doorway, kissing his wife soundly.

“Well, we were going to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but you kind ruined that, so you have to sit down with our little prince while daddy cleans the kitchen.” Snow grinned and nodded, shifting Neal from her hip to her lap as she sat at the table, tucking into the food that David placed in front of her. With every other bite, she would blow on the food to cool it, before feeding Neal who was cuddling into her chest.

Charming filled the sink with suds and dirty dishes before stopping at the half-empty bowl of leftover batter and the still warm pan. “What do you say we make some of Emma’s favourite pancakes and take them to her at the hospital this morning?” There was only a nod in response, from Snow as she bit into a piece of bacon but Neal perked up at the sound of his sister’s name and nodded, while clapping his hands. “Yay, Emmy!” Charming laughed as the boy grabbed another piece of bacon off the plate and struggled off Snow’s lap.

“We make sinmon an chips for Emmy?”

“That’s right buddy, chocolate chips and cinnamon, good job!” Neal stood tall at the praise from his father, waving the bacon over his head. “Here go daddy, bweafast for you.” The couple grinned at each other as the young boy dropped the bacon into David’s open palm and ran from the room giggling.

Snow stood from her seat at the table and walked into David’s arms, leaning against his chest for a minute’s peace before Neal began to wreak havoc. He ran into the room a minute later, breaking the couple apart as he thrust a piece of paper with brightly coloured scribbles towards whichever parent could grab it first. Snow took the page as David leant down to pick up the squirming child, looking at the picture together.

“Henwy told me to dwaw piture for Emmy an Killy. We give her with pancakes?” He pointed to the pink blob in the middle of the page between two barely discernible stick figures, and spoke seriously. “That baby. Henwy said she sister like Emmy.” He looked up at his father with a solemn questioning glance. “I have new sister?”

He looked back down at the paper without waiting for an answer, his pudgy finger tracing the blue line he declared was the sea. Snow and David glanced at each other over the top of Neal’s head, having one of their silent conversations. As Neal was explaining to nobody what each line and colour, the couple were both thinking back to their conversation from the previous night when they had discussed the possibility of having another child in the not so distant future. Neal shrieked when he realised neither of his parents were paying attention to him, and batted the paper towards David so he would listen.

Stepping away from her princes she moved towards the counter and began to mix chocolate chips into the remaining batter. David carried Neal out of the room, nodding along and making non-committal noises like he was paying attention, to get him chanced while Snow cooked. Within a matter of minutes Snow had placed the small stacks of pancakes into polystyrene containers, dusting one stack with icing sugar and cinnamon, tucking a small carton of syrup into the other box. Both containers were placed in the bag to keep warm and Snow went to her room to get herself changed, ready to visit with her daughter and granddaughter.

Half an hour later the family were dressed and ready to leave. Right on cue the doorbell rang and Snow opened it, beaming Regina and Henry who were stood on the other side, Regina with her arm around Henry’s shoulders. Snow hugged her grandson tightly and before Regina could object, she too was hugged closely. It surprised both David and Henry when the woman reciprocated her hug with almost as much vigour. When released, the mayor brushed out her coat and pulled Henry into her arms.

“Be good for your grandparents’ son, tell Miss Sw… Emma congratulations from me.” Henry nodded, the cheeky grin he’d inherited from his other mother was wide.

“I will mom. I love you.” Snow smiled at the way that comment made Regina blush and grin, and could tell she wasn’t all that used to hearing that from her son.

“Alright, well you guys just drop him off on your way back or I…” She trailed off, straightening up with a grimace.

“You could come pick him up if you wanted, meet the baby… I’m sure Emma would like to see you…” Henry looked from his grandmother to mother, nodding his head and Regina found herself nodding along with him.

“Sure Henry, just text me when you’re ready to come home and I’ll drop by.” Without another word she turned on her heel and walked away down the stairs. Henry took Neal from David when he saw how the toddler was reaching out to him, and started going through his backpack, showing Neal the things he had packed to keep the youngest entertained.


	25. Naming Baby

Neal was quick to try to announce his presence loudly to everyone in the hospital; he was just so excited to show his picture to his big sister. It took three attempts of each of them telling him that he would have to be quiet as the baby might be sleeping, and that he’d have to be careful with Emma as she still had a booboo. It was only the third time, when Henry told the child as they were stood outside Emma’s room that he actually appeared to pay attention, much to the chagrin of Snow and Charming.

It was only Henry that Neal allowed to poke his head in and check on the family, as soon as he’d registered the baby was in the room, he deemed himself ‘protector’ and was personally vetting everyone who wanted to enter. With Neal’s ‘permission’, Henry entered and shut the door behind him, leaving Neal stood on the, other side, back to the door, arms crossed like a bodyguard. Henry sighed with relief as he saw his mom sat up in bed, a sleeping baby in her arms, Killian perched on the bed as they talked quietly, Killian rubbing circles on her leg with his thumb.

As soon as they noticed the boy in the corner of the room, Emma’s smile brightened and Killian stood from his spot and gestured for Henry to take his place. The teen walked slowly to his mother’s side and stared at the bundle in her arms.

“Oh Mom… she’s just beautiful.” As gently as he could he wrapped his arms around her neck, hugging her tight for a second before he pulled away. He stroked a finger over the baby’s cheek in wonder, settling next to her on the bed. “Grandma and Gramps and Neal are outside but they said they’d give us a minute. How are you feeling ma?” She grinned at her son before glancing at her husband, seeing him watching them from the chair.

“I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. But every time I look at her I just…” She paused, not wanting to upset her eldest. He nodded at her to continue and she took his hand, squeezing it. “I already love her so much. I get that same feeling when I look at her that I get when I look at you. My beautiful babies.” The blonde felt herself tear up as Henry rolled his eyes and snorted. Killian stepped up to the bed and lifted the baby from her arms so she could talk to Henry properly. Before they could say another word however, they heard a loud cry from outside the door, where a second later Snow and Charming walked in with a bawling Neal between them. The tot cheered up considerably as he saw his sister, and as soon as he did, he ran to her, unable to climb up on the bed. Emma tried to bend to lift her brother but groaned at the movement leaning back onto the bed, closing her eyes. Henry moved to help Neal up who knelt precariously beside the blonde and leaned over so his nose was inches from her face. “EMMY!”

Neal grinned as Emma’s eyes shot open, shocked to see her baby brother inches from her face. Noticing that he was struggling to stay upright and was about to topple onto her, she grinned and wrapped an arm around him, tickling him under his arms. His peals of laughter made everyone in the room smile. She tickled him for a few moments more before pulling him into a tight hug, wrapping her other arm around her son who was still sat beside her.

It was only then that Neal remembered his purpose for visiting. He turned from his sister’s grip towards his parents. “Where baby?” Killian grinned from beside Snow, looking down at his daughter as she watched him, her eyes wide. The tot seemingly didn’t notice, just looking to his parents and ignoring his brother-in-law. Snow grinned at her little boy and looked at Killian, only then did the boy draw his attention to the man holding the baby. Emma chuckled as he tried to get off the bed, glancing at Henry, who nodded and helped Neal off the bed, leading him over to the large comfortable chair. Killian moved towards the chair, about to let the young boy hold the infant until Emma cleared her throat.

“Actually Killi, if Henry wants to, maybe he would like to hold his sister?” The teen tried to keep a straight face, but it warmed Emma’s heart to see him grin, excited about meeting his sister properly, especially after all the worry about how he would react. Charming quickly swooped Neal from the big chair as Henry sat down, immediately reaching out for his baby sister; remembering from Neal’s infancy, how to correctly hold a newborn. Emma watched proudly as her son held her daughter, squeezing Killian’s hand as he had taken it when he sat next to her. He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles as they both watched their kids stare at each other. She glanced over at her parents who looked as proud and happy as she felt.

The cries of the infant disturbed the pleasant silence of the room and Emma looked over from Killian to Henry who was cooing at the child, rocking her. When that failed to stop, Emma reached out her arms, grinning when Snow lifted the baby from Henry’s arms and moved towards her, frowning as she stopped a foot away from the bed. “Mom, give me my baby.” Snow shook her head, a grin playing at the corner of her mouth. “Momma?”

“Snow?” David was preoccupied with Neal and so wasn’t paying attention, but Killian was watching his mother in law, or more so his daughter. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough? What is her name?”

“Yeah mom, I know you’ve only known she was a girl a few days but you must have had some ideas before then…” Henry chimed in, and Emma turned her glare from her mother to her son. She glanced helplessly at Killian, they both knew their daughter was in absolutely no danger but given what had happened to Neal after his birth, the new-ish parents weren’t taking any chances, who knew if somehow the couple were under some kind of spell. Killian stood and took a step towards his child.

“Snow, hand me the baby and then we shall tell you her name.” Within seconds, the baby was back in her mother’s arms. The blonde stared down at her child in adoration as she nodded up at Killian. He smiled proudly at his wife and daughter before turning back to the couple, who, along with Henry were watching with interest. “Well we decided her middle name together…” Emma interrupted him with a mock-glare.

“He suggested it. I think it’s adorable but ultimately it was his idea…” Killian stuck his tongue out at his wife, beaming as she giggled.

“Regardless of who said it first, our little girl’s middle name is Neve.”

Almost simultaneously, David, Emma and Henry all turned to peek at Snow; Killian was looking sheepishly at the floor, Snow however looked delighted. “Well… you are right… that is an adorable name.” Killian beamed and David chuckled, turning back to his daughter and son in law.”

“So guys, as sweet as that it, what am I gonna be calling my granddaughter. I think Davina is just as adorable…” This time Killian shrugged and Emma blushed.

“Well, that one is all Emma… I have veto power of course but… she never got to name her son,” he peered apologetically at Henry who frowned “so I thought it only right she choose the name of her daughter.” Emma held her hand out to her son who stepped up and took it.

“Well, I do have one that I’ve been considering since I knew about her… well when I found out I was pregnant.” She pressed a kiss to the baby’s forehead and squeezed Henry’s hand, before looking towards her husband. He nodded at her to make her continue. Going 24 hours without a name to call his little girl was driving him insane.

“Well, Killian. I wanna call our daughter Hali.”


	26. Mommy-Hali Time

By lunchtime, Whale had made his rounds and informed the family that Emma was still technically a patient and she was not allowed so many visitors at once. Neal had quickly become bored after his chance to hold the baby so Snow and Charming decided to take Neal to the park. Emma wanted Henry to stay, to spend some time with him but he informed her that he wanted to go and spend a little time with Killian and give Emma some space just her and the baby.

She gave her son a tight hug as he packed up his things to leave. “I love you kid, and I’m so proud of the man you’re becoming…” She paused as her eyes filled with tears, cringing internally as she wiped them away hastily with the back of her hand. Henry tried to hide his grin, thinking back to when David had told him that her hormones would be way out of whack for a while. Killian, having been with Hali since the moment she’d been born was saying his own goodbyes to the infant, holding her close to his chest as he stated into her eyes. Hali was staring up at Hook almost in wonder as the new father transferred the little beauty into his wife’s arms.

Henry pressed a kiss to the top of his sisters’ head and kissed Emma’s cheek as he moved away from the bed and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Killian leaned down, stroking Hali’s cheek gently, before pressing a kiss to the top of Emma’s head. She blinked back tears as he stood straight, looking down at his wife and baby daughter, and the new father frowned at the woman who could not keep her tears at bay any longer.

“Emma love, what’s wrong? Now is supposed to be a happy time…” the blonde nodded, unable to wipe her tears with her daughter in her arms.

“I just don’t want you to go… what if you don’t come back?” Emma knew she was being ridiculous, that Killian was going purely because Henry wanted him to, and he would much rather the four of them stay and spend time together. He glanced back at Henry who was glancing at the couple guiltily, and Hook could see he was about to go back on wanting to leave so his mother could have her husband around, but he spoke before he could.

“Don’t be daft my love, of course I’m coming back, we both are. Henry had the wonderful idea of going to get some fresh air so you can spend some time with our little one, then we’re going to bring you some dinner back from Granny’s and the four of us will spend some time together before Regina comes to pick up Henry…” He wiped her tears quickly and kissed her, before making is way to the door, leaning his arm around Henry’s shoulder. Henry grinned at his mom before opening the door and walking outside with Killian.

Emma watched as her husband and son walked out and took a deep breath, mentally telling herself to pull herself together. A glance at her baby caused her tears to stop instantly. Staring into the beautiful blue-green eyes of her daughter made her heart swell.

“Well hello my princess… so it’s just you and me huh? Don’t worry kidlet; daddy will be back soon…” Hali gurgled in response, her eyes locking with Emma’s as she rested the infant on her lap, still supporting her head, as she moved a curl from her face. “You just got the most beautiful face don’t you baby, good job you got that from your father huh.” The blonde frowned as the infant scrunched up her face, ready to wail. Emma took a deep breath, glancing around the room she knew was empty as the baby began to shriek, panicking with it being the first time she’d ever been alone with a newborn. She lifted her higher to see if she needed a diaper change like she had seen Snow do once but deemed her clean. She held her close, wondering if she had been holding her wrong, but that didn’t stop the tears.

Not knowing what to do, and not wanting her baby to cry, Emma reached for the nurses’ button, pressing it twice, her own tears beginning to fall. It was unexpected, when Emma saw Giselle make her way into the room, who looked concerned until she noticed what was going in. Her features softened as she made her way over to Emma and Hali.

“Oh sweetheart, it’s ok, we’ll soon get you sorted… Are you ok?” Emma nodded, trying to stop crying, fearing she was looking like a fool. “I know it’s tough dear, being a first time mom… to a newborn is difficult, heck having a newborn is difficult for all parents. Maybe she’s hungry…?” Giselle helped Emma sit up and get herself situated so she could attempt to feed her daughter for the first time, Whale having given her the go ahead on his last rounds. It took a minute or two before Emma winced, and Giselle smiled. “Don’t worry dear, that’s normal. Looks like she latched on well, so when she’s done, just rub her back gently, just a precaution, you just need to make sure there’s no air in her belly. If she doesn’t burp that’s fine too, if she’s comfortable, she’ll probably just fall asleep…” Emma nodded her gratitude and Giselle smiled, making her way out of the room.

Emma watched her daughter as she fed, stroking her fingers along her cheek and across her temple. Hali seemed satisfied enough and Emma took a breath, leaning back against the cushion. “I’m sorry baby, I’m not used to having all these… emotions… everything’s just getting a little on top of me…”

She remained silent until Hali seemed to turn her head a little, seemingly finished and Emma rubbed her back until her eyes drooped for the last time and remained closed. The blonde took a few more minutes just watching the little princess sleep before placing her in the cot at her bedside. She lay back, keeping one of her hands resting in the cot right near Hali’s feet and within moments, she was asleep.


	27. My Two Beautiful Babies

She woke abruptly as the door creaked open and leaned protectively towards the cot where Hali was sleeping, turning to face the door. Truthfully, if it were intruders, Emma had no idea what she would have done, not used to all the overprotective feelings that were surging through her. She took a breath of relief as she saw it was her husband in the doorway and turned her back on him, leaning over to check on the sleeping infant. When Killian and Henry had entered, the former stood next to his wife while the latter leaned over the cot to watch on the baby, Emma pushed her husband away angrily. Weakened from tiredness, Killian barely moved, his feet not even leaving the spot where they were planted. He went to grin but it dropped when he noticed her face.

“Don’t freak me out like that again! I thought someone was coming in to take Hali! I can barely move, let alone protect our daughter if something happens to her! Just walk in next time like a normal person! Not to mention, what the hell were you thinking leaving me alone so long with a newborn? I had no idea what I was doing; I couldn’t even feed her properly for gods’ sake.” Emma huffed, glancing back at Henry and Hali before looking back to Hook. The pirate frowned, taking Emma’s and as he pressed a brief kiss to her knuckles.

“I’m sorry Emma. I know that you are the perfect mother to your kids, and I know you would have done anything to protect our little one, but it’s ok my love. I’m here now and you will never be alone again…” He leaned down to kiss her, grunting in surprise as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, amazed once again that her true love had answered what she was really thinking. Killian managed to sit while keeping hold of his wife, whispering ‘I love yous’ into her ear until she released her grip on him. Henry had rolled the cot over to the window and was staring out of it, Hali’s tiny hand wrapped around his finger. Emma sat back, clutching Killian’s hand firmly in hers.

“I love you Killi... and I love our girl so much it hurts, but I need you to take her and spend a little daddy-daughter bonding time with her, so I can spend a little time with my other baby.” She was trying to speak quietly, but when she peeked at Henry she saw the tiny smile on his face, and shook her head in mirth, knowing he’d heard her. Killian merely nodded, stroking the hair back from Emma’s forehead, before he stepped up to the window and lifted her into his arms like she was the most precious treasure in the world, which to him, she was. The infant began to cry, flailing her arm around before Killian pressed a kiss to her downy head. Emma was watching the father-daughter duo intently, debating whether she should ask for the newborn so she could calm her. She grinned though as Hali stopped crying almost instantly, the look of adulation as Hook watched his daughter stretch made her heart melt. He grinned up at her, knowing what she had been thinking.

“I got it love, it’s time for me and my princess to spend some quality time together. He leaned down over the side of the bed so Emma could kiss the girl’s head and walked out of the room, cooing softly to her. Emma watched them walk out of the door before turning back to her son, seeing that he was watching her with a slightly pained expression. Emma frowned, and opened her arms, taking a deep breath as Henry almost ran to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her as she did to him. They remained hugging together for a minute or so before Henry stepped back, perching on the side of the bed.

“Mom…”

“Henry…”

Emma smiled weakly as they both began talking at the same time, but Henry, being the gentleman his mothers were raising him to be, gestured for his mother to carry on speaking first.

“Henry… You know that Hali changes nothing you know? You’re my firstborn, my kid, you are both my number one priority.”

“Mom, stop, I know, its ok.” Emma frowned as her son glanced down at his hands, not able to look his mother in the eye. “But you’re wrong.” He continued before Emma could interrupt and she frowned, watching her son warily, trying not to become over-emotional in front of him. “Things will change, and I get it, Hali is a baby and she needs you more… But that’s not it.” Emma was still watching Henry, waiting for him to look back at her and finally he did. “You get to raise Hali, Ma, you get to experience everything that you missed with me… I can see already how much you love her.” This time she did interrupt him.

“Henry, I love you too! I don’t love you or your sister more than the other, but you are the reason that I got my happy ending kid. If you hadn’t come to get me, I never would have met you, or got to have been your mother, or even met my parents! I owe my happiness to you Henry, and you will always be the first person I ever truly loved.” She smiled sadly as Henry took her hand, this time it being Emma that could not look her son in the eye. “I know that I hurt you kid, when I gave you up, when I lied to you about your father, when I tried to keep you away from your mother. I know, I know…” She hesitated when she saw his frown. “I know what you’re going to say, I did it to give you your best chance, but I wasn’t enough for you then, what if I’m not good enough for you both now? I’ve never raised a baby, what if I mess it all up? What if she hates me? What if you start to hate me, because I raised her and not you…”

Tears began to trickle down her cheeks again, and she wiped them away as Henry moved to hug her again. He had grown a great deal in the past number of months and so was almost as tall as Emma was, something that Emma only noticed when he hugged her. A fresh wave of tears began to fall as she realised how much she’d missed with Henry ever since she found out she was pregnant. She didn’t voice her thoughts to her son, but held him tightly in a hug. Henry pulled back and grinned at his mother, trying to improve the atmosphere in the room.

“I’m old enough to know you won’t love me any less, that I am still your son and just as much your kid as Hali is. Don’t worry ma, I love you and I know you love me too.” Emma’s eyes still shined with tears but she gave her son a real smile, and sat up straighter. Emma shuffled sideways on her bed, wanting to be close to her son as she tapped the spot beside her. Henry grinned, moving to sit next to his mother, resting his head on her shoulder as she grabbed the overhead television to find a movie. She settled on one of his favourites, Captain America: Winter Soldier, grinning at his blush. Emma had watched the movie with Henry when it was first released on TV and knew of his not so secret crush on the actress who played Agent 13, and she knew that he knew that was why she picked it.

The duo watched in silence for a few minutes before Henry noticed Emma had turned away from the movie, and Henry, and her shoulders were shaking. Henry debated whether or not to try and talk to her, or if that would just embarrass the blonde more; so he simply wrapped his arms around her, waiting for her to be ready to open up to him. Another ten minutes or so passed, Henry had returned his attention to the movie; before Emma faced back towards the TV. Her eyes were red rimmed and tear tracks stained her cheeks but she was smiling softly. Henry didn’t try and get her to talk, he just kept on arm around her as Emma returned the gesture. It was a companionable silence, Emma relaxing next to her son as the movie continued.

They had just watched the Winter Soldier kill Jasper Sitwell when the door was opened, and in walked Killian with Hali, who was crying loudly, her face red. Emma removed her arm from around Henry’s shoulder as Killian placed Hali into her open arms, the baby quieting instantly. Emma grinned up at Killian who frowned, not at the infant but seeing the evidence of his wife’s sadness still etched on her face. She shook her head quickly and he nodded, stroking his thumb down her cheek as he kissed her. Henry grinned and tried to slip off the bed, stopping as Emma grabbed his wrist to prevent him moving any further. He nodded, lifting the now peaceful child out of his mother’s arms, stroking her cheek almost reverently. The teen began to whisper quietly, and the newborn stared up at him, as if she was listening to his every word.

Killian sighed as he sat in the chair that was next to the bed, taking Emma’s hand in his, stroking the spot where her engagement and wedding rings usually sat. Pregnancy had meant removing the rings had been necessary, but they currently sat on a chain around her neck, falling just above her heart. She bit her lip and patted her heart over her gown, checking that they were still there, smiling at her true love when she felt them under her fingertips. Killian however looked upset, which made Emma frown.

“What’s up love? Now is supposed to be a happy time…” Killian pouted at her use of the term of endearment, pressing a kiss to his wife’s knuckles.

“I’m so sorry my love. I’ve been called into work, it’s an emergency and I can’t say no…” Emma took a deep breath as she thought about his statement, and removed her hand from her husband’s grip. The pirate grimaced, until Emma cupped his cheek and kissed him with a quick nod.

“It’s ok, I understand. I know you’ve had a lot of time off work lately because of me, you’ve spent some quality time with both the kids today, and we have the rest of our lives together. You go, and we’ll still be here when you get back.” She kissed him again, resting her forehead against his. “Don’t forget that I love you.” Killian stood, telling the three on the bed that he loved them before making his way out of the door. Emma watched him go, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach before she turned back to her kids, watching her eldest bond with his sister. She could just hear him telling Hali the story of how Killian and Emma met.

Henry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and knew that his mother was watching him. He looked up and noticed her almost adoring gaze, a deep blush spreading through his cheeks. “What mom? What are you staring at?” Emma grinned happily, the upset from earlier forgotten, the uncomfortable feeling pushed to the back of her mind.

The blonde sat up straighter, glancing down at her daughter who was beginning to yawn, before looking up at her son who was smiling warmly at her. “I just never imagined my life would turn out like this. I couldn’t be happier than I am with my wonderful husband and my two beautiful babies.”


	28. Home Sweet Home

“…7 …6 …5 …4 …3 …2 …1!”

Emma grinned towards Killian before making her way over to her daughter, lifting her from the car seat as Giselle clapped from behind them. Hali was now officially cleared to go home, though she had only been a few weeks premature, she had been required to pass the infant carrier test before she was allowed out. Though Emma could not wait to get out of there and be in her own bed, she was more than slightly worried about what would happen when she got her daughter home now that there would be no doctors or nurses around. Killian had already promised her that the car seat was strapped safely and securely in the car, and the bassinet had been moved from the nursery into Emma and Killian’s room. He had stocked up on nappies, wipes, formula and anything else the infant needed but that did nothing to ease her fears.

Emma cradled her daughter close as she leaned into Killian who had wrapped his arms around them both. She had already been officially discharged, and Hali, now a week old was just waiting on Doctor Whale to write a list of things to look out for before they would be on their way. Henry had gone home with Regina, wanting to give the couple a few nights to get the baby settled before the custody arrangement returned to normal. He had been grinning as he had informed his mother of that, he had known it was a good excuse to not have to be around a crying baby interrupting his much needed (now he was a teen) sleep.

Emma settled into the big chair in the room she had been staying in for the past week, situating Hali to allow her to feed, hoping she’d be asleep on the car journey home. The infant latched on quickly, and Emma’s head fell back, looking up at Killian as he stood next to the chair, watching his wife and daughter. He pressed a kiss to her forehead growling under his breath as Whale chose that moment to walk into the room. Emma moved the burping cloth from her shoulder to cover her chest, smiling up at her doctor tiredly. With a few comments about follow up care and some genuine thankyous from the parents, Whale left and Emma sighed with relief as Hali finished feeding; they were finally out of there.

Emma offered to carry the bags so Killian could hold his daughter, but the former pirate, now ever the gentleman, refused to let his wife do any heavy lifting as she had ‘just given birth’. He did however put the bags in the trunk and then take Hali out of his wife’s arms so he could strap her into the car for the first time. Emma took a moment to step back from the car and just look towards the sun with her eyes closed, allowing the warmth to soak into her skin, before moving around to the other side of the car to sit next to the car seat, opting to keep an eye on Hali on her first ever car ride.

It was only a matter of minutes later when Killian pulled up outside the house, opening his wife’s door on his way to the trunk. Emma quickly moved around and lifted the sleeping infant into her arms, raising her eyebrow at Killian as he paused in front of her, not allowing her to move.

“Stay right there my love, I’ll go and put these bags upstairs and then we can take Hali on a tour of her new home…” Emma nodded, hiding her smile as he disappeared in the door. The blonde stared down at the treasure in her arms, captivated. All she could see was her husband’s features, though he mentioned everyday how much the child looked like her, and stroked her finger gently over the infant’s cheek, biting her lip as Hali yawned and stretched in her sleep.

Within a moment, Killian was back in front of her and he kissed her soundly before almost leading her inside. The new father held open the door for his wife and after closing it, gestured to Hali.

“Let’s show our princess her castle my love.” The look of endearment he gave her made Emma melt and she passed Hali carefully into his arms. As if she had heard her father, the newest royal had woken and was looking up at Killian with wide eyes. Together, the couple carried Hali from room to room, telling her what each room was before they finally reached the nursery. Emma took a deep breath as she walked into the room, making her way over to the rocking chair, running her fingers over the polished wood, a gift to Hali from Geppetto and Pinocchio.

“Killian…”

The proud dad glanced up at his wife from watching his daughter try to shove her fist in her mouth, frowning at her almost concerned expression. “Yes my love?”

“Can we move this chair to our room… just for a few weeks, but I want to be able to rock with her at night, mom told me that was the only way Neal would fall asleep for a few months…” Killian hid a smile at her rambling, and stepped towards her with a nod.

“I will move it right now love, anything for you.” The couple played pass the newborn again, and Emma followed Killian as he carried the chair with ease, seating it next to the bassinet in the corner of the room. The princess, unsettled with all the movement, scrunched up her face as if to cry, but no tears came. Emma had quickly settled into the chair and kicked off, beginning to gently rock, the blonde beginning to sing the song she had sung to her bump in the months leading up to her birth.

_‘__Your baby blues___  
so full of wonder  
your curly cues  
your contagious smile’

Emma continued to sing, rocking slowly as Hali fell asleep for the first time in her new home. The blonde was too preoccupied in watching Hali to notice that Killian was filming her sing the song to their child, ready to save it as a memory of Hali’s first night at home. Only when she reached the end of the song did Emma stop, laying the infant down in her bassinet, noticing Killian then with the camera. She smiled brightly, moving towards where he was sat on the edge of their bed, pushing his arm that was holding the phone out of the way, as she kissed him soundly. He returned with fervour, his wife’s giggle causing him to drop the phone as he wrapped his arms around her waist, the recording stopping as it hit the carpet.


	29. Celebrating Hali

Much of the first week that Hali was home was spent in the house, Emma doing all the night feeds while Killian was doing some day feeds with a bottle, and doing more than his share of changing nappies. Henry was happy to be around during the day but chose to go home to Regina’s every night. Kilian had taken over the cooking and day-to-day cleaning, leaving Emma to rest, and stating ‘you did all the work for 9 months while I sat around love, now it’s my time to pull my weight’. It had come just at the right time for Emma, as she was almost falling down from exhaustion from not sleeping more than an hour at a time.

Charming and Snow had stopped by every day. Killian would text them when a good time to come round would be and five minutes later they were at the door. The first time they turned up, Emma was unaware and Snow was worried that the blonde would feel ambushed but she seemed pleased to see them, and every day since that first would she greet them with a smile. She would at some point of the morning discuss aspects of motherhood to an infant with snow, talk about the station with David and interact with her little brother. Everyone would be gone by midday and Emma, Killian and Hali and Henry when he was around, would spend the afternoons, ‘bonding’. A lot of pictures were took of the four of them, and the other three when they were around, Emma not wanting to miss a second of her youngest child’s childhood.

When Hali hit two weeks old was the first time the family ventured from their house, making a trip to Granny’s to introduce the child to their close friends. Emma had allowed Snow and Ruby to go crazy and organise a ‘small gathering’ which Emma half expected to be everyone who the royal couple had ever spoke to, to introduce the new princess, yet when they arrived they were greeted by everyone who could be given the title of family; the dwarves, Granny and Ruby and Regina.

It was small and intimate, with the youngest princess being passed around to properly meet each member of her family. It was David that held on to the child for the longest; who sat in the booth next to his wife and grandson, staring down at the infant as she stared at him. Emma and Killian sat at the bar, hand in hand, safe in the knowledge that everyone in the room would be able to protect the child if anything were to happen. She leaned further into Killian as she watched her mother holding her brother as he leaned over his father’s shoulder to look at his niece. Glancing around the room; she saw that everyone was smiling and celebrating, and it reminded her of less than a month ago when they were in the same place with the same people, celebrating the same princess.

With a glance up to her husband and true love, Emma felt a wave of calm wash over her, and she closed her eyes, revelling in the enormous amounts of love she felt in the room. She felt Killian press a kiss to her temple and bit back a smile, content to just lean there. A few minutes passed as the couple remained close and the noise in the room reflected just how enamoured everyone was with the child. The noise quietened down as Granny announced the food was ready, and Emma opened her eyes as Killian nudged her, seeing Ruby in front of her with Hali, who was staring up at the wolf in wonder. She pulled a face at the infant before passing her over to Emma, who accepted her gratefully. The blonde looked down at her mini-me and grinned, before looking toward Killian again.

“I can’t wait till she smiles properly for the first time. Or her first word. First steps… I can’t wait to see it all!” She glanced down at Hali again, before scanning the room for her firstborn, a wistful look on her face. Henry was laughing, in conversation with his other mother, who had her arm around his shoulders. As if he could sense her stare on him he turned, and offered Emma a cheerful smile before continuing talking to Regina. She stroked her finger down her daughter’s cheek, leaning still into Killian as he reached around Emma’s shoulder, to take Hali’s hand, grinning as the tiny baby gripped tightly to his finger. He pressed a kiss to Emma’s temple, whispering to her for privacy, despite the loudness of the room.

“Don’t worry my love; we’ll get to experience every second, every special moment with our little pirate princess. And your love for Henry will continue to grow, just as your love for our daughter will, you will get to experience Henry’s first girlfriend, or boyfriend, his graduation, going to college, you still have so many experiences left with him, and I will be beside you every step of the way. This is our happy ending.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Part One


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